Television & radio | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio
Latest television & radio news, comment, reviews and analysis from the Guardianen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015Mon, 03 Aug 2015 00:37:31 GMT2015-08-03T00:37:31Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015The Guardianhttp://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttp://www.theguardian.com
Tributes to Cilla Black, 'Liverpool's Cinderella', pour inhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/02/cilla-black-tributes-liverpool-cinderella-pour-in
<p>Friends, colleagues and politicians express sorrow at death at 72 of showbusiness star who became queen of Saturday night TV</p><p>Tributes have been paid to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cilla_Black">Cilla Black</a>, who moved from singing star in the vanguard of the 1960s Merseyside pop revolution to queen of Saturday night television and then subject of a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/sep/16/cilla-glue-tv-review-cilla-black-biopic">much-praised TV biopic</a> last year.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/gallery/2015/aug/02/cilla-black-life-in-pictures">Cilla Black – a life in pictures</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/02/cilla-black-tributes-liverpool-cinderella-pour-in">Continue reading...</a>Cilla BlackTelevisionCultureTelevision & radioMediaSun, 02 Aug 2015 14:56:30 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/02/cilla-black-tributes-liverpool-cinderella-pour-inPhotograph: Jane Mingay/AFP/Getty ImagesCilla Black was ‘the most remarkable woman, a true legend’, said Sheridan Smith.James Meikle2015-08-02T14:56:30Z‘Mark Thompson told me: whatever you do, don’t mess up Top Gear’http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/aug/02/top-gear-jane-tranter-bbc-doctor-who
As Jane Tranter prepares to head her own UK production company, she talks about Doctor Who, her fears for the BBC – and why Wales is like New York<p>Jane Tranter’s first job as head of production for the BBC’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, was to sell Top Gear to the US.</p><p>So it seems appropriate that on the day we speak, as she prepares to return from Los Angeles to the UK to start her own production company, that Top Gear, or rather Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, are <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jul/30/top-gear-clarkson-hammond-may-amazon-deal-bbc" title="">dominating the headlines</a> once again.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/aug/02/top-gear-jane-tranter-bbc-doctor-who">Continue reading...</a>Jane TranterMediaBBCTop GearTelevisionFactual TVDoctor WhoCultureTelevision & radioFantasyIndependent production companiesTelevision industryUK newsBBC WorldwideSun, 02 Aug 2015 17:06:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/aug/02/top-gear-jane-tranter-bbc-doctor-whoPhotograph: /PRJane Tranter, left, will be based in south Wales while her partner in the independent production company Bad Wolf, Julie Gardner, will remain in Los Angeles.Photograph: /PRJane Tranter, left, will be based in south Wales while her partner in the independent production company Bad Wolf, Julie Gardner, will remain in Los Angeles.John Plunkett2015-08-02T17:06:01ZHumans recap: season one, episode eight – the big finalehttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/aug/02/humans-recap-season-one-episode-eight-the-big-finale
<p>It would be an understatement to say that Humans doesn’t end neatly. There are more questions than answers as the super-synths make their bid for freedom</p><p><em>Spoiler alert: this recap covers the eighth episode of </em><a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/humans"><em>Humans showing on Channel 4</em></a><em>. For episode seven, click </em><em><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/26/humans-recap-season-one-episode-seven-outstanding-and-unnerving">here</a></em></p><p>If you’ve grown to love the conscious synths over the past few episodes, look away now. Hobb has all five of them strapped to beds and he’s removing their ability to self-replicate, along with their dignity.<br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/aug/02/humans-recap-season-one-episode-eight-the-big-finale">Continue reading...</a>HumansTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureDramaSun, 02 Aug 2015 21:00:06 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/aug/02/humans-recap-season-one-episode-eight-the-big-finalePhotograph: Gary Moyes/KudosMattie and Toby, who now have Pete on their side.Photograph: Gary Moyes/KudosMattie and Toby, who now have Pete on their side.Hannah Verdier2015-08-02T21:00:06ZTrue Blood to Tarzan: how Alexander Skarsgård swung into Hollywoodhttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/aug/02/alexander-skarsgard-interview-diary-of-a-teenage-girl
<p>He’s been a vampire bar-owner. Soon he’ll be Lord of the Jungle. But the Swedish actor is about to star in the sexually explicit Diary of a Teenage Girl – as a man who beds his girlfriend’s daughter</p><p>“I’m tall in Sweden,” says Alexander Skarsg&aring;rd, lounging across a conveniently oversized sofa. “But I’m huge in Hollywood.” He’s not kidding: at 6ft 4in, he’s even taller in the flesh than he appears on screen. This must make film parties particularly awkward for people who find themselves pitching projects – or even just chatting – to his navel.</p><p>His height, in an industry full of titches, and his unmistakably Swedish looks, have helped Skarsg&aring;rd stand out from the pack. He was perfect for <a draggable="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMTbkfgT_jc">a small turn in Zoolander</a> as one of Ben Stiller’s buddies, and his imposing presence led to a breakout role in the vampire TV show True Blood. It also makes his turn in new movie The Diary of a Teenage Girl, in which his character has an affair with his girlfriend’s 17-&shy;year-&shy;old daughter (5ft 2in), even more shocking. The coming&shy;-of-age drama, which also stars Kristen Wiig and British newcomer <a draggable="true" href="http://www.teenvogue.com/story/bel-powley-interview-the-diary-of-a-teenage-girl">Bel Powley</a>, recently gained an 18 certificate in the UK for its explicit sex scenes, a decision its director has denounced.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/aug/02/alexander-skarsgard-interview-diary-of-a-teenage-girl">Continue reading...</a>FilmThe Diary of a Teenage GirlAlexander SkarsgårdTelevisionYoung peopleCultureSocietyTelevision & radioRomanceDramaSun, 02 Aug 2015 17:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/aug/02/alexander-skarsgard-interview-diary-of-a-teenage-girlPhotograph: Rex ShutterstockAlexander Skarsgård in Edinburgh for the UK premerie of The Diary of a Teenage Girl.Photograph: Rex ShutterstockAlexander Skarsgård in Edinburgh for the UK premerie of The Diary of a Teenage Girl.Benjamin Lee2015-08-02T17:00:01ZMeet comedian Amy Schumer, the sneaky feminist honesty bombhttp://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/aug/02/amy-schumer-interview-trainwreck-judd-apatow
<p>She’s been showered with awards, has millions of views on YouTube and ‘blew away’ Trainwreck director Judd Apatow. Is Amy Schumer the funniest woman on the planet?</p><p>There are two bottles of mineral water in Amy Schumer’s hotel suite and no glasses. She takes sparkling, I have the still, and I offer to find something to drink out of. “Naaah, let’s drink it out of the bottle,” Schumer, the 34-year-old American comedian and actor, suggests. She slumps on the sofa, tucks her feet underneath her and takes a thirsty swig. She’s just come from doing photographs and is wearing an expensive-looking peach cocktail dress; her hair and nails are done. The effect is incongruous: she looks like a girl whose prom date has stood her up.</p><p>Nice dress, I say – mainly because that kind of clothing and conspicuous effort demand acknowledgement. It turns out to be not Schumer’s choice and certainly not her taste. “Does this look hilarious, this orange thing?” she asks. “I feel like the exact opposite of this outfit and nail polish. I feel no connection to how I look visually right now.”</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/aug/02/amy-schumer-interview-trainwreck-judd-apatow">Continue reading...</a>TrainwreckComedyAmy SchumerTina FeyTelevisionTelevision & radioComedyComedyComedy CentralTelevision industryComedyFilmCultureStageMediaUS television industrySun, 02 Aug 2015 09:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/aug/02/amy-schumer-interview-trainwreck-judd-apatowPhotograph: Pal Hansen/ObserverAmy Schumer photographed at the Soho hotel in London. Photograph: Pal Hansen for the ObserverPhotograph: Pal Hansen/ObserverAmy Schumer photographed at the Soho hotel in London. Photograph: Pal Hansen for the ObserverTim Lewis2015-08-02T09:30:00ZThe week in TV: Life in Squares, Partners in Crime; Parks and Recreation; Taskmaster; Atlantichttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/02/week-in-tv-life-squares-partners-crime-parks-recreation
<p>Death in Venice meets Game of Thrones in BBC2’s fine new drama about Virginia Woolf and friends</p><p><strong>Life in Squares</strong> (BBC2) | <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0649cyj">iPlayer</a></p><p><strong>Partners in Crime</strong> (BBC1) | <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p02vf6z5/partners-in-crime-1-the-secret-adversary-part-one">iPlayer</a></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/02/week-in-tv-life-squares-partners-crime-parks-recreation">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioDocumentaryFactual TVHistorical dramaDramaComedyComedyPeriod dramaBooksVirginia WoolfTelevisionParks and RecreationCultureDavid WalliamsSun, 02 Aug 2015 06:00:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/02/week-in-tv-life-squares-partners-crime-parks-recreationPhotograph: Ecosse Films/Ollie Upton/PRLydia Leonard (Virginia Woolf), James Norton (Duncan Grant) and Phoebe Fox (Vanessa Bell) in BBC2’s ‘mesmerising’ Life in Squares. Photograph: Ecosse Films/Ollie UptonPhotograph: Ecosse Films/Ollie Upton/PRLydia Leonard (Virginia Woolf), James Norton (Duncan Grant) and Phoebe Fox (Vanessa Bell) in BBC2’s ‘mesmerising’ Life in Squares. Photograph: Ecosse Films/Ollie UptonEuan Ferguson2015-08-02T06:00:09ZQ&A: Mel Giedroyc, TV presenterhttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/aug/01/mel-giedroyc-q-and-a
<p>‘My guiltiest pleasure? Fig rolls. While watching Downton. Nude’</p><p>Born in Surrey, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2012/nov/06/mel-giedroyc-portrait-artist" title="">Mel Giedroyc</a>, 47, went to Cambridge University, where she met <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0674065/" title="">Sue Perkins</a>. They performed at the Edinburgh festival&nbsp;as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jan/12/mel-giedroyc-sue-perkins-funniest-moments" title="">Mel &amp; Sue</a> in 1993 and hosted Channel 4’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_Lunch" title="">Light Lunch</a> in&nbsp;the late 90s. Since 2010, they have&nbsp;been presenting <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/the-great-british-bake-off" title="">The Great British Bake Off</a>, which returns to BBC1 later this month. She is married to <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2233924/" title="">TV director Ben Morris</a>, has two children and lives in London.</p><p><strong>When were you happiest? </strong><br />Yesterday: sun-lounger, back garden, cup of tea, radio on.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/aug/01/mel-giedroyc-q-and-a">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionCultureTelevision & radioThe Great British Bake OffLife and styleSat, 01 Aug 2015 05:00:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/aug/01/mel-giedroyc-q-and-aPhotograph: Joel Anderson/Eyevine‘What did I want to be when I was growing up? Valerie Singleton.’Photograph: Joel Anderson/Eyevine‘What did I want to be when I was growing up? Valerie Singleton.’Rosanna Greenstreet2015-08-01T05:00:03ZThe week in radio: Night Shift; Radio 1’s Ibiza Promhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/02/week-in-radio-night-shift-radio-1-ibiza-prom
Sarah Montague highlighted the dangers of our growing 24-hour culture, while Radio 1’s Ibiza Prom was uplifting and emotional<p><strong>The Night Shift</strong> (Radio 4) | <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0639jpl" title="">iPlayer</a></p><p><strong>Radio 1’s Ibiza Prom</strong> (Radio 1) | <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06391d7" title="">iPlayer</a></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/02/week-in-radio-night-shift-radio-1-ibiza-prom">Continue reading...</a>Factual radioSleepSarah MontagueBBC Proms 2015Dance musicClassical musicPromsRadio 1RadioTelevision & radioCultureSun, 02 Aug 2015 06:00:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/02/week-in-radio-night-shift-radio-1-ibiza-promPhotograph: BBC/BBCSarah Montague: ‘Why is 6am so much easier than 4am?’ Photograph: BBCPhotograph: BBC/BBCSarah Montague: ‘Why is 6am so much easier than 4am?’ Photograph: BBCMiranda Sawyer2015-08-02T06:00:09ZThe Last Man On Earth: surviving the apocalypse, slacker stylehttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/01/last-man-on-earth-will-forte
<p>Aimless driving. Endless masturbation. Homicidal impulses. This is how you endure the end of the world, says the hit sitcom’s star Will Forte – and he’s got the Emmy nominations to prove it</p><p>Will Forte looks like a nice guy. An affable, unassuming, polite, cheerful American everyman. That’s his weapon. Orville Willis Forte IV’s amiable demeanour is a mask he whipped off countless times during his eight-year run on US sketch institution Saturday Night Live, revealing the white supremacists, sex offenders, crooked politicians and inept alcoholic secret agents lurking underneath. He whips off the mask again in the post-apocalyptic comedy series The Last Man On Earth. This time, revealing the unpleasant individual behind the amiable exterior has won him ritual acclaim and Emmy nominations plural.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/mar/01/the-last-man-on-earth-high-concept-post-apocalyptic-comedy">The Last Man on Earth: high-concept post-apocalyptic comedy</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/01/last-man-on-earth-will-forte">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionTelevision & radioCultureSat, 01 Aug 2015 07:59:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/01/last-man-on-earth-will-fortePhotograph: Jordin AlthausLout of this world: Will Forte as Phil Miller in The Last Man On Earth.Photograph: Jordin AlthausLout of this world: Will Forte as Phil Miller in The Last Man On Earth.Jonathan Bernstein2015-08-01T07:59:05ZThe new Hostelworld advert: 'tantalising you with the concept of freedom'http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/01/new-hostelworld-advert
<p>With Hostelworld, your holidays can too be enriched by skinny dipping in the jungle to a Future Islands soundtrack </p><p>Hostelworld is selling you more than just a roof over your head while you’re discovering yourself on a series of mud paths in Mexico. It’s tantalising you with the very concept of freedom. When Michael from Warrington – part of a group of actual backpackers-turned-adland actors – whips off his boxers in its new ad, he’s not just getting his knob out for a laugh; he’s doing it because there’s not a line manager within 1,000 square miles who can stop him. </p><p>As he runs up those steps, he’s no longer a trudging wage slave; he’s Mike – last of the international playboys. He doesn’t need to involve the HR department or go through multiple levels of hierarchy before doing this; he can just hurl himself off the cliff like a pink torpedo into the backpacker soup below. Future Islands play triumphantly – Hostelworld has enabled his priceless holiday moment.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/01/new-hostelworld-advert">Continue reading...</a>AdvertisingTelevisionTelevision industryTelevision & radioMediaCultureSat, 01 Aug 2015 12:00:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/01/new-hostelworld-advertPhotograph: PRHostelworld TV AdPhotograph: PRHostelworld TV AdDavid Renshaw2015-08-01T12:00:10ZBBQ Champ review – 'We're talking The Great British Barbecue-Off basically'http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/bbq-champ-review-were-talking-the-great-british-barbecue-off-basically
<p>The barbecue should be simple, but these people have outdoor kitchens – let’s hope they send them out into the woods with just a spear and a flint</p><p>Being a man, I think I’m not too shabby on a barbecue. Having now seen <strong><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/apr/30/will-cookery-show-bbq-champ-be-the-next-sizzler-for-itv">BBQ Champ</a></strong> (ITV), I may have to up my game. I’m a notch above bangers, burgers and sweetcorn: I do lamb, spicy chicken, sardines, maybe a scallop, aubergines. But these dudes – including a couple of lady dudes – are doing salt-baked seabass, peach mash, Yorkshire frigging pudding on their barbies.</p><p>We’re talking The Great British Barbecue-Off, basically, with <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/feb/05/myleene-klass-birthday-gift-present-daughter-school-kindle">Myleene Klass</a> in the Mel’n’Sue role (fewer puns, posher frocks) and “international food phenomenon” Adam Richman and barbecue chef Mark Blatchford playing <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/the-great-british-bake-off">Paul and Mary</a>. Each contestant has two barbecues, one with a lid and a temperature gauge to use for smoking and as an oven, the other for direct grilling. They’ve got charcoal and different kinds of wood chips, to give different flavours, and all the tools and ingredients under the sun. And they’re making this amazing stuff, dinner party food on the barbecue, as contestant Nicola says.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/bbq-champ-review-were-talking-the-great-british-barbecue-off-basically">Continue reading...</a>Myleene KlassBarbecueCultureLife and styleTelevisionTelevision & radioFri, 31 Jul 2015 22:30:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/bbq-champ-review-were-talking-the-great-british-barbecue-off-basicallyPhotograph: Matt FrostBBQ Champ judges Mark Blatchford and Adam Richman with Myleene Klass.Photograph: Matt FrostBBQ Champ judges Mark Blatchford and Adam Richman with Myleene Klass.Sam Wollaston2015-07-31T22:30:10ZCrush of the week: Tig Notarohttp://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/aug/01/tig-notaro-crush-of-the-week
<p>The comedian hits all the right buttons, which is why she makes us laugh and cry in equal measure</p><p>Last week I was doing the dishes while watching <a href="https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80028208">Tig</a>, a new Netflix documentary about comedian Tig Notaro. I found myself laughing and then crying, at first softly and then suddenly very hard.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/aug/01/tig-notaro-crush-of-the-week">Continue reading...</a>Tig NotaroStageComedyCultureComedyFilmComedySat, 01 Aug 2015 05:00:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/aug/01/tig-notaro-crush-of-the-weekPhotograph: JB Lacroix/WireImageTig Notaro: ‘Her voice is deep and steady, punctuated by self-contained and utterly infectious chuckles. She is a complete delight.’Bim Adewunmi2015-08-01T05:00:03ZRipper Street returns: where did we leave them?http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/31/ripper-street-returns-where-did-we-leave-them
<p>After an 18-month break, the period crime drama is back on BBC and the new series is the most ambitious – and viscerally exciting – yet</p><p>After almost 18 months <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2013/dec/04/ripper-street-cancelled-bbc">off UK terrestrial TV screens</a>, the gripping 19<sup>th-</sup>century crime drama Ripper Street is back for a third series on BBC1 and the re-launch episode is packed with more thrills, plot and character development than almost the entire first two series. Creator Richard Warlow has taken his grimy, textured saga set in the Victorian East End and used the added bonus of Amazon’s money to really make it fly. <br /></p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/may/13/ripper-street-to-return-for-two-more-series-of-blood-guts-and-pocket-watches">Ripper Street to return for two more series of 'blood, guts and pocket watches'</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/31/ripper-street-returns-where-did-we-leave-them">Continue reading...</a>Period dramaDramaBBC1Amazon Prime Instant VideoTelevision & radioMediaCultureTelevisionFri, 31 Jul 2015 12:00:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/31/ripper-street-returns-where-did-we-leave-themPhotograph: Bernard Walsh/Tiger Aspect/BBCRipper Street: Homer Jackson (Adam Rothenberg), Long Susan (Myanna Buring), Edmund Reid (Matthew MacFadyen) and Bennet Drake (Jerome Flynn).Photograph: Bernard Walsh/Tiger Aspect/BBCRipper Street: Homer Jackson (Adam Rothenberg), Long Susan (Myanna Buring), Edmund Reid (Matthew MacFadyen) and Bennet Drake (Jerome Flynn).Julia Raeside2015-07-31T12:00:03ZBest of Beats 1: how to take a bite out of Apple Musichttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/31/best-of-beats-1-how-to-take-a-bite-out-of-apple-music
<p>Eclectic dance music from Julie Adenuga, hip-hop from veteran presenter Ebro Darden and 80s American punk from Josh Homme – a roundup of the best shows on Apple Music</p><p>Whether it was <a draggable="true" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HS5bNRBsI4">Drake </a>unleashing his Meek Mill diss track via his radio show OVO Sound, Taylor Swift <a draggable="true" href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/27/taylor-swift-triumphed-apple-music-calls-tune">penning open letters</a> to the company on Tumblr, Dr Dre using his show as a <a draggable="true" href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/30/dr-dre-is-about-to-drop-a-new-album-ice-cube-says">launch pad for his new album (potentially)</a>, or industry-heavy analysis on why the world’s biggest company wants to get its hands dirty in the streaming market, it’s likely you’ve seen and heard of Apple Music by now. A month since its launch, what hasn’t really been discussed is the music itself. What does Apple Music offer, and is their catalogue any good? </p><p> Apple Music is essentially an amalgamation of Spotify and the old – now defunct – Beats Music service, with the ability to stream just about every song you can wish for, create playlists and have your tastes catered to by telling the service what you like, and what you don’t. Beats1, however, is where things start to get interesting. You don’t need a subscription to listen, and it’s built into every Apple device you have.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/31/best-of-beats-1-how-to-take-a-bite-out-of-apple-music">Continue reading...</a>MusicApple MusicTechnologyCultureRadioJosh HommeSt VincentFri, 31 Jul 2015 16:34:55 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/31/best-of-beats-1-how-to-take-a-bite-out-of-apple-musicPhotograph: Mike McGregor for the ObserverSound concepts in St Vincent’s Mixtape Delivery Service.Photograph: Mike McGregor for the ObserverSound concepts in St Vincent’s Mixtape Delivery Service.Raj Bains2015-07-31T16:34:55ZThe 10 best holiday podcastshttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/jul/31/the-10-best-holiday-podcasts
<p>Have we missed a podcast perfect for holiday listening? Leave your suggestion in the comments below and it could feature in the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/series/readers-suggest-the-10-best">alternative list</a> next week</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/jul/31/the-10-best-holiday-podcasts">Continue reading...</a>PodcastingCultureDigital mediaMediaScroobius PipInternetMusicTechnologyFri, 31 Jul 2015 11:00:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/jul/31/the-10-best-holiday-podcastsPhotograph: PRPhotograph: PRMiranda Sawyer2015-07-31T11:00:03ZJanice Dickinson on Bill Cosby: ‘They can fling all they want at me. I did not consent.’http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/31/janice-dickinson-on-bill-cosby
<p>Ex-model and reality TV star Janice Dickinson is one of more than 40 women who have accused comedian Bill Cosby of sexual assault. His lawyer has called her a liar. Here, she talks about a tough childhood, her fightback and the case that is gripping America</p><p>Janice Dickinson is in a silk robe, smoking a cigarette and descending a flight of steps in her garden, which is built into a hillside in Beverly Hills. She is, at one level, in her element, surrounded by photographers and stylists, a happy reminder of her heyday as a supermodel in the late 1970s. At the same time, she can’t be seen to be enjoying herself too much: the 60-year‑old reality TV star is meeting me in her capacity as one of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/20/bill-cosby-and-the-women-claiming-a-history-of-sexual-assaults">the scores of women who have accused Bill Cosby of rape or sexual assault</a> – accusations the actor has either not responded to or denied.</p><p>“She’s more successful than him anyway, now,” says her assistant, Stephen, as they re-enter the house.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/31/janice-dickinson-on-bill-cosby">Continue reading...</a>Bill CosbyCelebrityModelsUS newsWorld newsFashionLife and styleTelevision & radioCultureTelevisionReality TVFri, 31 Jul 2015 14:23:37 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/31/janice-dickinson-on-bill-cosbyPhotograph: Bradley Meinz/GuardianJanice Dickinson: ‘When the other women came forward, I knew I had to.’ Photograph: Bradley Meinz for the Guardian. Hair: Hailey Adickes, <a href="http://haileyadickeshair.com">haileyadickeshair.com</a>. Makeup: Igor Sanaev. Wardrobe: Tess Alexandra CallnerPhotograph: Bradley Meinz/GuardianJanice Dickinson: ‘When the other women came forward, I knew I had to.’ Photograph: Bradley Meinz for the Guardian. Hair: Hailey Adickes, <a href="http://haileyadickeshair.com">haileyadickeshair.com</a>. Makeup: Igor Sanaev. Wardrobe: Tess Alexandra CallnerEmma Brockes2015-07-31T14:23:37ZWilliam Shatner: ‘I discovered how to act not too long ago’http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/jul/30/william-shatner-star-trek-actor-leonard-30-minutes-with
<p>The Star Trek actor on why he enjoyed playing a hero losing his powers, how Common People helped him understand rock’n’roll – and life without Leonard</p><p><strong>Hi Bill, how are you?</strong></p><p>So good, man. You’re an American working in England?</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/jul/30/william-shatner-star-trek-actor-leonard-30-minutes-with">Continue reading...</a>William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the BridgeWilliam ShatnerLeonard NimoyStar TrekTelevisionUS televisionCultureFilmThu, 30 Jul 2015 16:11:48 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/jul/30/william-shatner-star-trek-actor-leonard-30-minutes-withPhotograph: Christopher Polk/NBC‘I tried hard’: actor William ShatnerPhotograph: Christopher Polk/NBC‘I tried hard’: actor William ShatnerChris Michael2015-07-30T16:11:48ZMartin Scorsese and Mick Jagger team up for record label dramahttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jul/31/martin-scorsese-mick-jagger-record-label-drama-tv
<p>Set in 1970s New York, Vinyl will explore the drug-fuelled music business at the dawn of punk and disco, starring Olivia Wilde and Jagger’s son James</p><p>A new TV series about the music industry co-produced by Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger will premiere on HBO in 2016, it has been announced. The “rock’n’roll<strong> </strong>drama”, Vinyl, will star Boardwalk Empire’s <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/apr/10/first-look-review-danny-collins-al-pacino-dan-fogelman">Bobby Cannavale</a>, House’s Olivia Wilde and Jagger’s son James.</p><p>Set in New York in the 1970s, it will tell the story of a fictional record label called American Century records, exploring the drug- and sex-fuelled music business when the punk and disco scenes were emerging.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jul/31/martin-scorsese-mick-jagger-record-label-drama-tv">Continue reading...</a>Martin ScorseseMick JaggerFilmThe Rolling StonesCultureMusicFri, 31 Jul 2015 14:38:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jul/31/martin-scorsese-mick-jagger-record-label-drama-tvPhotograph: Markus Schreiber/APMick Jagger and Martin Scorsese at the Berlinale film festival in 2008.Photograph: Markus Schreiber/APNadia Khomami2015-07-31T14:38:05ZTop Gear's Clarkson, Hammond and May sign Amazon dealhttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jul/30/top-gear-clarkson-hammond-may-amazon-deal-bbc
<p>Former BBC stars opt for online giant rather than ITV and Netflix for new motoring show to launch next year</p><p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/poll/2015/jul/30/amazon-prime-clarkson-hammond-may-poll">Poll: Would you join Amazon Prime to watch Clarkson, Hammond and May?</a><br></p><p>Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May have been signed up by Amazon for a new motoring show to rival the BBC’s Top Gear.</p><p>The trio’s new show will be broadcast on Amazon’s on-demand TV service, with the US giant beating off competition from ITV and its online rival, Netflix.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jul/30/top-gear-clarkson-hammond-may-amazon-deal-bbc">Continue reading...</a>Amazon Prime Instant VideoOnline TVBBCTelevision industryDigital mediaMediaAmazon.comInternetTechnologyTop GearTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureUK newsWorld newsThu, 30 Jul 2015 09:59:33 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jul/30/top-gear-clarkson-hammond-may-amazon-deal-bbcPhotograph: Matt Jelonek/WireImageFormer Top Gear stars Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May have signed a deal with Amazon.Photograph: Matt Jelonek/WireImageFormer Top Gear stars Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May have signed a deal with Amazon.John Plunkett2015-07-30T09:59:33ZMeet the creator of Review – Comedy Central's best-kept secrethttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/30/review-andrew-daly-tv-best-kept-secret-comedy-central
<p>Critically lauded but under the radar of many, Andrew Daly’s show became a cult TV hit last year. Now as season two starts he explains its oddly captivating appeal</p><p>Watching the trailer for the new season of Review, which returns to Comedy Central 30 July, made me painfully, distractingly sad. That’s probably not the response one should have to a teaser hinting at several new episodes of a very funny show, but Review is a special case.</p><p>The finale of the show’s first season capped off a shockingly effective dramatic arc for hapless protagonist Forrest MacNeil, a man convinced he is capable of reviewing all life experiences for the benefit of the viewing public on his show, Review. Andrew Daly, a comedy veteran, nerd favorite, and mainstream “that guy” (known for his roles as announcer Dick Pepperfield in Semi-Pro and Principal Cutler on Eastbound &amp; Down) credits the show’s success in part to the sheer absurdity of that concept. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/30/review-andrew-daly-tv-best-kept-secret-comedy-central">Continue reading...</a>US televisionComedy CentralUS television industryCultureThu, 30 Jul 2015 12:17:39 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/30/review-andrew-daly-tv-best-kept-secret-comedy-centralPhotograph: Mark Davis/Comedy CentralAndrew Daly as Forrest in Review.Photograph: Mark Davis/Comedy CentralAndrew Daly as Forrest in Review.Eric Thurm2015-07-30T12:17:39ZSigned, Sealed, Delivered: Inside The Post Office review – ‘It isn’t a closure programme. It’s actually a modernisation programme’http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/30/signed-sealed-delivered-inside-the-post-office-review-bbc2
<p>No one sends letters now, so the business needs to modernise. Which makes perfect sense until we see some of the local offices – and people – under threat</p><p>“Change in the Post Office needs to become as much about what we do as it is in any other business,” Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells tells a meeting at Post Office House in central London, EC1V 9HQ. (Nice touch that postcode, in the first of BBC2’s three-part <strong>Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Inside the Post Office</strong>). The business has changed, no&nbsp;one sends letters any more, the organisation is propped up to the tune of &pound;3m a week, money the government is no longer prepared to pay. Change means cutting the &pound;10,000 yearly subsidy post offices get, converting them into retail outlets, moving them into retail outlets.</p><p>It makes perfect sense. Except, perhaps, in the village of Cromford, Derbyshire, where the village post office (DE4 3QF) has stood for more than 100 years, and where, for the past 10 years, postmistress Carol hasn’t just&nbsp;paid out pensions and benefits, returned left-behind teddies, dealt with unwanted internet purchases and provided a bank for local businesses, she has pretty much been the heart of the local community. And for Ian and Anne in Audley, Staffordshire (ST7 8EE), who have no chance of turning their tiny post office into a profitable shop and for whom, says Ian, modernisation means “bugger off”. And in Norton-in-the-Moors, Stoke-On-Trent (ST6 8HT) where the plan is to close the central stand-alone post office and open a&nbsp;post&nbsp;office counter in the petrol station on the edge of town. And in hundreds of other post offices up and down the country.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/30/signed-sealed-delivered-inside-the-post-office-review-bbc2">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionTelevision & radioCulturePost OfficeBusinessThu, 30 Jul 2015 06:10:14 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/30/signed-sealed-delivered-inside-the-post-office-review-bbc2Photograph: Grab/BBC/Blast! FilmsWill Carol get to keep her post office in Cromford? Signed Sealed Delivered: Inside The Post Office on BBC2.Photograph: Grab/BBC/Blast! FilmsWill Carol get to keep her post office in Cromford? Signed Sealed Delivered: Inside The Post Office on BBC2.Sam Wollaston2015-07-30T06:10:14ZHow we made Morphhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/28/how-we-made-morph-peter-lord-david-sproxton
<p>Peter Lord: ‘Our great fear was that he’d fall over. When I nipped to the loo, I had to prop him up with lots of mugs’</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/28/how-we-made-morph-peter-lord-david-sproxton">Continue reading...</a>AnimationCultureTelevisionTelevision & radioChildren's TVTue, 28 Jul 2015 07:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/28/how-we-made-morph-peter-lord-david-sproxtonPhotograph: CBBCThe indestructible Morph.Photograph: CBBCThe indestructible Morph.Interviews by Andrew Dickson2015-07-28T07:00:01ZThe Three Day Nanny review – Kathryn Mewes is a busybody in a silk scarf, but I’d probably still hire herhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/29/the-three-day-nanny-review
Kathryn Mewes has been called in to sort the Morrisens out with her miracle 72-hour fix and her guarantees – beef, chicken or the naughty step?<br /><p>I’ve been single-parenting. Not permanently, just a few days; she is coming back, I think. There have been occasions when I would have called Kathryn Mewes, <strong>The Three Day Nanny</strong> (Channel 4), if I’d had her number to hand. Like the time we went to the park, the park on the hill, the hill that three-and-a-bit-year-old – suddenly deaf, apparently – scooted down at speed, into the distance, towards the park gate, lorries, paedophiles. Meanwhile, one-and-a-bit-year-old lay in a howling heap on the ground. It’s hard to know what it was about; he only really says “duck”. I somehow managed to round them up and hang on to them – this time – and we just about made it home, although not without more tantrums and lots more tears, mostly mine.</p><p>There has been no actual physical abuse – by them on me, I mean. Which is what Laura Morrisen here gets from her three-and-a-bit-year-old, Frankie. He doesn’t just shout and tantrum; he hits and kicks and spits as well. Charming. And he can already say duck with an eff. From Frankie’s one-and-a-bit-year-old sister Willow, Laura’s fiance Luke gets … nothing. He’s never even had a cuddle from his own daughter. So, on top of the violence, the verbal abuse and the emotional abuse, here is a family torn in two along the gender line.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/29/the-three-day-nanny-review">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionTelevision & radioCultureWed, 29 Jul 2015 06:10:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/29/the-three-day-nanny-reviewPhotograph: Hal ShinnieKathryn Mewes … The Three Day Nanny. Photograph: Hal ShinniePhotograph: Hal ShinnieKathryn Mewes … The Three Day Nanny. Photograph: Hal ShinnieSam Wollaston2015-07-29T06:10:02ZGreat British Bake Off: new contestants poised to serve up sixth serieshttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/28/great-british-bake-off-contestants-series-six
<p>BBC1 programme crowned the biggest entertainment hit of 2014 is set to return to screens next week <br></p><p>The most popular show on television, The Great British Bake Off, will return to BBC1 next week with a Lithuanian bodybuilder, a London firefighter and this year’s youngest contestant, a 19-year-old arts student from Scotland, among those vying for the coveted master baker prize.</p><p>With its mixture of spectacular recipes, soggy bottomed disasters and relentless double entendres by presenters Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, the primetime cookery show may sound an unlikely TV hit.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/28/great-british-bake-off-contestants-series-six">Continue reading...</a>The Great British Bake OffBBCTelevisionMary BerryTelevision & radioCultureFood TVPaul HollywoodLife and styleUK newsMediaBakingTue, 28 Jul 2015 06:42:26 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/28/great-british-bake-off-contestants-series-sixPhotograph: Mark Bourdillon/PAContestants (left to right) Alvin, Ugne, Paul, Dorret, Marie, Ian, Nadiya, Stu, Tamal, Flora, Mat and Sandy prepare for this year’s contest.Photograph: Mark Bourdillon/PAContestants (left to right) Alvin, Ugne, Paul, Dorret, Marie, Ian, Nadiya, Stu, Tamal, Flora, Mat and Sandy prepare for this year’s contest.John Plunkett2015-07-28T06:42:26ZLife in Squares review: ‘absurd, beautiful characters in a ridiculously golden world’http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/28/life-in-squares-review-absurd-beautiful-characters-in-golden-world
<p>Art, literature, exquisite interiors and copious copulation – do try to keep up with Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury set</p><p>If only their passions had been as muted as their palettes – how different life could have been for the Bloomsbury set. By the end of the opening episode of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0649cyj"><strong>Life in Squares</strong></a><strong> </strong>(BBC2), the three-part dramatisation of the Stephen-Bell-Strachey-Keynes-Sackville-Woolf lot’s attempts to fit their life into their art, their art into their life and their genitals into anyone who was passing through WC1, we had had two deaths, at least four affairs (depending whose terms you use) and a handful of criminal assignations, all set against the most exquisitely tasteful interiors you could hope for. I don’t know how they found time to handpaint half the lampshades they did.</p><p>The drama took a certain effort of will to get into. You just have to accept that you are in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/26/bloomsbury-set-money-social-status">a world where people convened salons</a>, and probably did say things like “Childe Harold is a load of posturing nonsense! It can’t hold a candle to Don Juan, even if the alexandrines are forced to breaking point!” and let the pounding in your head pass.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/28/life-in-squares-review-absurd-beautiful-characters-in-golden-world">Continue reading...</a>Virginia WoolfDramaTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureBooksFictionArtPoetryTue, 28 Jul 2015 06:10:12 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/28/life-in-squares-review-absurd-beautiful-characters-in-golden-worldPhotograph: Robert Viglasky/BBC/Ecosse Films/Robert ViglaskyA world in which people convened salons … Life in Squares.Photograph: Robert Viglasky/BBC/Ecosse Films/Robert ViglaskyA world in which people convened salons … Life in Squares.Lucy Mangan2015-07-28T06:10:12ZThe enduring social shorthand of Harry Enfield charactershttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/shortcuts/2015/jul/27/enduring-social-shorthand-harry-enfield-characters
When the LSE published a report about rich, useless children being protected by cash and connections, newspapers illustrated the story with Tim Nice But Dim. Why, 25 years on, are Loadsamoney and Waynetta Slob still go-to references?<p>The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/447575/Downward_mobility_opportunity_hoarding_and_the_glass_floor.pdf" title="">report from the London School of Economics</a> called it “opportunity hoarding”: the way that well-off parents create a “<a href="http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/Society/article1585845.ece" title="">glass floor</a>” to protect their untalented offspring and, in the process, stop&nbsp;the poor from rising up. They were good phrases, but Britain already had a name for it.&nbsp;What the report really described, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3174961/The-Triumph-Tim-Nice-Dim-Report-says-posh-stupid-children-end-earning-poor-gifted.html" title="">as the Mail put it</a>, was&nbsp;“the triumph of Tim Nice But&nbsp;Dim”.</p><p>There’s perhaps a slender chance that you won’t know who&nbsp;the Mail – along with the <a href="http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/594068/Posh-stupid-children-better-poor-gifted" title="">Express</a>, the <a href="http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/Society/article1585845.ece" title="">Sunday Times</a>, the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/11764687/In-defence-of-the-Tim-Nice-But-Dims.html" title="">Telegraph</a> and, naturally, the <a href="http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/Society/article1585845.ece" title="">Guardian</a> – were talking about. Tim Nice But Dim was a&nbsp;character originally created by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman, but brought to life by Harry Enfield in a&nbsp;series of&nbsp;sketch shows in the 1990s. Tim&nbsp;put a self-explanatory name&nbsp;and a confused face to something that everyone already knew existed: the thick posh boy (or girl) whose wealth and connections kept&nbsp;him happily ignorant of all the striving in the&nbsp;world.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/shortcuts/2015/jul/27/enduring-social-shorthand-harry-enfield-characters">Continue reading...</a>Harry EnfieldComedyCultureTelevisionComedyKathy BurkeTelevisionTechnologyMon, 27 Jul 2015 17:01:11 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/shortcuts/2015/jul/27/enduring-social-shorthand-harry-enfield-charactersPhotograph: PAOn the money … Harry Enfield as Tim Nice But Dim.Photograph: PAOn the money … Harry Enfield as Tim Nice But Dim.Leo Benedictus2015-07-27T17:01:11ZLydia Leonard’s favourite TV: ‘I watched every episode of Neighbours in the 90s’http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/27/lydia-leonard-favourite-tv
<p>The Wolf Hall stage actor reminisces about Jeeves And Wooster and looks forward to starring as a 23rd-century ghostbuster with Bill Murray</p><p>It used to be <strong>Neighbours</strong>. I think I watched every single episode for about six years in the early 90s. Is it even still on? Now it’s probably <strong>Black</strong> <strong>Mirror</strong>, which is funny, insightful and scathing. They make bold original choices with the content and the format, and always have fantastic actors in them. I wish they’d make more. I’m really enjoying <strong>House Of Cards</strong>, too. I’ve just started series three. The scripts are brilliant and those two lead characters are just total antiheroes. It makes it feel quite dangerous and you feel a bit complicit in it.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/27/lydia-leonard-favourite-tv">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionTelevision & radioCultureMon, 27 Jul 2015 11:00:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/27/lydia-leonard-favourite-tvPhotograph: Ollie Upton/BBC/Ecosse Films/Ollie UptonBrimming excellent.Photograph: Ollie Upton/BBC/Ecosse Films/Ollie UptonBrimming excellent.Gwiliym Mumford2015-07-27T11:00:02ZDownton Abbey with pigs? Why an HBO version of All Creatures Great and Small isn’t completely dafthttp://www.theguardian.com/media/shortcuts/2015/jul/27/downton-abbey-hbo-version-all-creatures-great-small
After the stateside success of British dramas such as Poldark, Doctor Who and Downton Abbey, the home of Game of Thrones and True Detective is rumoured to be planning a remake of the Sunday tea-time veterinary drama<p><strong>Name: </strong>All Creatures Great and Small.</p><p><strong>Age: </strong>45. The first book was published in 1970. The&nbsp;TV series came eight years later.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/shortcuts/2015/jul/27/downton-abbey-hbo-version-all-creatures-great-small">Continue reading...</a>Television industryTelevision & radioFarmingCultureTelevisionMon, 27 Jul 2015 14:49:51 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/shortcuts/2015/jul/27/downton-abbey-hbo-version-all-creatures-great-smallPhotograph: Moviestore/Rex ShutterstockPhotograph: Moviestore/Rex ShutterstockThe Guardian2015-07-27T14:49:51ZThe outrageous fortune of Benedict Cumberbatchhttp://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jul/26/benedict-cumberbatch-inside-story-hamlet-sherlock-school-actor
<p>Five years ago, Sherlock propelled him into the stratosphere. Now he’s photobombing the Oscars and selling out Hamlet a year in advance. Friends and co-stars reveal why the world is wild for Benedict Cumberbatch</p><p>Twenty years ago, while he was still at school, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/benedict-cumberbatch">Benedict Cumberbatch</a> had his first chance to star in Hamlet. But, remembers Harrow drama teacher Martin Tyrell, he decided to concentrate on his A-levels instead. A couple of years earlier, the pupil had joined a Shakespeare workshop and had spent a couple of hours working on the play’s first scene. Tyrell remembers the 15-year-old being “so gripped by it. That was when he woke up to Shakespeare, I think, and the idea of becoming a professional actor.”</p><p>Tyrell, having seen Cumberbatch’s obvious talent in several school productions, thought he would become “an extremely hard-working, conscientious and successful professional actor, but I had no idea he would be both an <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/feb/23/oscars-2015-list-of-winners">Oscar nominee</a> and an actor playing Hamlet to a sell-out audience months before it opened”.<br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jul/26/benedict-cumberbatch-inside-story-hamlet-sherlock-school-actor">Continue reading...</a>StageBenedict CumberbatchTheatreCultureSherlockTelevisionThe Imitation Game12 Years A SlaveCelebrityFilmLife and styleTelevision & radioThe Fifth EstateDrama and danceDramaRadioRadio dramaRadio comedySun, 26 Jul 2015 14:00:06 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jul/26/benedict-cumberbatch-inside-story-hamlet-sherlock-school-actorPhotograph: Spencer Murphy for the GuardianBenedict Cumberbatch.Photograph: Spencer Murphy for the GuardianBenedict Cumberbatch.Emine Saner2015-07-26T14:00:06ZWhat Hillary Clinton could learn from TV's women in powerhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/26/hillary-clinton-tv-women-in-power-veep-madam-secretary-house-of-cards
<p>Power, plots and controversial haircuts … Hillary Clinton may have set her sights on the White House, but the TV characters she inspired – in Veep, House of Cards and Madam Secretary – are way ahead of her</p><p>If imitation really is flattery, then Hillary Rodham Clinton should be thrilled by the American TV schedules. As she sets out on her second bid to become the country’s first woman president, three fictional female politicians – all based to some extent on her – are running alongside.<br /></p><p>In the latest series of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/veep">Veep</a> (broadcast in the UK on Sky Atlantic), central character Selina Meyer is already president; and, with CBS having commissioned a second term of <a href="http://www.cbs.com/shows/madam-secretary/">Madam Secretary</a> (the first season is currently on Sky Living), the narrative logic seems to point to secretary of state Elizabeth McCord (T&eacute;a Leoni) launching a bid for the White House. Viewers of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/23/whose-more-popular-frank-underwood-or-barack-obama">House of Cards</a> (Netflix) must also suspect that Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) will not remain content with merely being First Lady and US ambassador to the UN.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/26/hillary-clinton-tv-women-in-power-veep-madam-secretary-house-of-cards">Continue reading...</a>Hillary ClintonTelevisionHouse of CardsVeepDramaUS televisionCultureTelevision & radioUS politicsWomenSun, 26 Jul 2015 17:00:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/26/hillary-clinton-tv-women-in-power-veep-madam-secretary-house-of-cardsPhotograph: Paul Schiraldi/HBO EntertainmentJulia Louis-Dryfus plays President Selina Meyer in Veep.Photograph: Paul Schiraldi/HBO EntertainmentJulia Louis-Dryfus plays President Selina Meyer in Veep.Mark Lawson2015-07-26T17:00:09ZExperimental review – ‘so blokey and knowingly dumb it just might be the next Top Gear’http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/27/experimental-review-top-gear-blokey
Tim watches ridiculous YouTube stunts then goads Buddy into recreating them – but strangely, they seem to be really good mates<p>While Jeremy Clarkson and Top Gear hunker down in their respective corners to lick wounds and make plans, an uneasy tension has fallen across the country. Without a deliberately stupid male-orientated programme to keep them entertained on Sunday nights, there’s a chance that Britain’s blokes will soon be forced to make their own entertainment; blundering into the streets in their ugliest shirts to jostle lampposts and be disappointingly sexist to bins. This, obviously, would be a disaster.</p><p>Full marks to Channel 4, then, for attempting to fill the Top Gear slot with <a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/experimental" title=""><strong>Experimental</strong></a>, a show that couldn’t be any more male, or knowingly dumb, if it was presented by Danny Dyer and a Crayola scribble of a willy. Experimental’s premise is simple enough – man watches dangerous-looking YouTube video, man replicates dangerous-looking YouTube video, repeat – but it’s giddy, gloriously moronic stuff.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/27/experimental-review-top-gear-blokey">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionTelevision & radioCultureMon, 27 Jul 2015 06:10:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/27/experimental-review-top-gear-blokeyPhotograph: /Channel 4Charming chemistry … Tim Shaw and Buddy Munro in Experimental. Photograph: Channel 4Photograph: /Channel 4Charming chemistry … Tim Shaw and Buddy Munro in Experimental. Photograph: Channel 4Stuart Heritage2015-07-27T06:10:05ZMonday’s best TVhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/27/life-in-squares-pennine-way-parks-and-recreation
A corsets-free portrait of the Bloomsbury group in Life In Squares, a forbidding trek along The Pennine Way and joyous comedy in Parks And Recreation. Plus: hooligans face 24 Hours In Police Custody and the BBC opens The Secret Files<p>This is the sort of handsome, avuncular series the Beeb does really well. Polar adventurer and diver Paul Rose presents a four-part documentary (showing daily) in which he takes on the Pennine Way, a forbidding trek that runs like a spine through the north of England. It was opened in 1965, following resistance from the landed gentry. As well as telling that story, he meets theatre director Barry Rutter, who recalls past literary residents along the route, including Ted Hughes. <em>David Stubbs</em></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/27/life-in-squares-pennine-way-parks-and-recreation">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionTelevision & radioCultureMon, 27 Jul 2015 05:00:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/27/life-in-squares-pennine-way-parks-and-recreationPhotograph: Robert Viglasky/BBC/Ecosse Films/Robert ViglaskyLydia Leonard as Virginia Woolf and Phoebe Fox as Vanessa Bell in Life in Squares. Photograph: Robert Viglasky/Ecosse Films/BBCPhotograph: Robert Viglasky/BBC/Ecosse Films/Robert ViglaskyLydia Leonard as Virginia Woolf and Phoebe Fox as Vanessa Bell in Life in Squares. Photograph: Robert Viglasky/Ecosse Films/BBCDavid Stubbs, Jonathan Wright, Andrew Mueller, Gwilym Mumford, Hannah J Davies, Paul Howlett2015-07-27T05:00:04ZParks and Recreation: another acclaimed US show without the UK audience it deserveshttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/27/parks-and-recreation-another-acclaimed-us-show-without-the-uk-audience-it-deserves
<p>It took a long time to come here and its fourth season is going out on Dave. But Parks and Recreation’s struggles put it in good company with Seinfeld, Breaking Bad and others</p><p>There’s good news for UK fans of the hardest-working local government department in Indiana, as the fourth season of <a draggable="true" href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/parks-and-recreation">Parks and Recreation</a> is finally set to surface on Dave. </p><p>The series took an age to reach British shores, with BBC4 picking up the first seasons at the same time as the penultimate season was airing in the US. But despite a top-drawer cast, with <a draggable="true" href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/amy-poehler">Amy Poehler</a>, <a draggable="true" href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/nick-offerman">Nick Offerman</a>, <a draggable="true" href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jun/08/aziz-ansari-modern-dating-extract-guide">Aziz Ansari</a> and <a draggable="true" href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jun/19/jurassic-worlds-chris-pratt-equality-means-objectifying-men-too">Jurassic World</a> star <a draggable="true" href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/chris-pratt">Chris Pratt</a> playing some of the most enjoyable characters in modern sitcom history in a pitch-perfect caricature of small midwestern city life, the show hasn’t really managed to grab the British audience it deserves. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/27/parks-and-recreation-another-acclaimed-us-show-without-the-uk-audience-it-deserves">Continue reading...</a>Parks and RecreationComedyUS televisionSeinfeldBreaking BadFamily GuyDavid LettermanAnimationTelevisionTelevision & radioMon, 27 Jul 2015 07:00:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/27/parks-and-recreation-another-acclaimed-us-show-without-the-uk-audience-it-deservesPhotograph: NBC/David Giesbrecht/NBCMeet the Veep… Chris Pratt as Andy, Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate, Vice President Joe Biden, Adam Scott as Ben Wyatt, Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope in Parks and Recreation.Photograph: NBC/David Giesbrecht/NBCMeet the Veep… Chris Pratt as Andy, Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate, Vice President Joe Biden, Adam Scott as Ben Wyatt, Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope in Parks and Recreation.Mark Jones2015-07-27T07:00:08ZThe new pirate radio crackdown: 400 stations closed in the past two yearshttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/shortcuts/2015/jul/26/outlaw-sound-pirate-radio-defined-british-popular-music
<p>Illegal radio setups are still being seized by the authorities, but you shouldn’t fear for their future<br></p><p>The unique character of British popular music owes a lot to pirate radio. In the 1960s, the original pirates illicitly brought pop music to the shores of Britain, broadcasting from ships in international waters and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/subjects/history/britainsince1930s/media/launch_radio_1" title="">forcing an anachronistic BBC to launch Radio 1 in response</a>. From the 1980s, pirate radio saw the genesis of British underground culture, as transistors on top of towerblocks became the only places broadcasting reggae, rave, jungle, drum’n’bass, garage, grime and dubstep.</p><p>But piracy has always been at odds with the law. Earlier this month, <a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/four-hundred-pirate-radio-stations-shut-down-in-london-in-just-two-years-10362974.html" title="">Ofcom revealed that in London alone they have seized 400 suspected pirate radio setups</a> over the past two years. Ofcom’s head of Spectrum Enforcement, Clive Corrie, says that mostly they stop stations broadcasting because they “interfere with vital radio communications used by the emergency services and aircraft systems, and frequently cause damage to property”. This is a problem specific to the capital, since “of the 100 or so stations illegally broadcasting in the UK, around 70 of them are in London”.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/shortcuts/2015/jul/26/outlaw-sound-pirate-radio-defined-british-popular-music">Continue reading...</a>RadioCultureTelevision & radioOfcomTelevision industryMediaSun, 26 Jul 2015 18:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/shortcuts/2015/jul/26/outlaw-sound-pirate-radio-defined-british-popular-musicPhotograph: Getty ImagesRadio Caroline disc jockeys at Walton police station in Essex after their ship ran aground, 1966.Photograph: Getty ImagesRadio Caroline disc jockeys at Walton police station in Essex after their ship ran aground, 1966.Sam Wolfson2015-07-26T18:00:01ZPartners in Crime recap: episode 2 – jolly hockey sticks adventure gets serioushttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/02/partners-in-recap-episode-2-jolly-hockey-sticks-adventure-gets-serious
<p>A less pacy second episode, but one that found time for a gruesome throttling that really should have happened off screen</p><p><em>SPOILER ALERT: This blog is for those watching series one of Partners in Crime</em><em>. Don’t read on if you haven’t seen episode two.</em></p><p><em>For the episode one recap, <a href="http://theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/26/partners-in-crime-sunday-night-escapism-tommy-and-tuppence">click here</a>.</em></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/02/partners-in-recap-episode-2-jolly-hockey-sticks-adventure-gets-serious">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionTelevision & radioAgatha ChristieDavid WalliamsBBCCultureBooksMediaSun, 02 Aug 2015 20:57:06 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/02/partners-in-recap-episode-2-jolly-hockey-sticks-adventure-gets-seriousPhotograph: Laurence Cendrowicz/BBC Pictures/Endor ProductionsDavid Walliams as Tommy Beresford in Partners in Crime.Photograph: Laurence Cendrowicz/BBC Pictures/Endor ProductionsDavid Walliams as Tommy Beresford in Partners in Crime.Julia Raeside2015-08-02T20:57:06ZPriscilla White: the sparky Liverpudlian audiences came to know as 'our Cilla'http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/02/priscilla-white-the-sparky-liverpudlian-audiences-came-to-know-as-our-cilla
<p>Cilla Black, as pop star and TV presenter, was known for her smiling kindness, although behind her public breeziness she had taken some hard knocks</p><p>When Cilla Black achieved her two UK number ones in 1964, the records she knocked off the top of the charts were Diane by the Bachelors and Juliet by the Four Pennies. The contrast between the relatively low name recognition today of those musical rivals and the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/aug/02/cilla-black-dies-aged-72">enduring celebrity held until death by Cilla</a> – she was recognised by first-name alone long before Madonna – is a mark of the determination and adaptability that lay behind her everyday manner.</p><p> Showbiz is so fickle that it is impressive to achieve one burst of sustained fame, as Cilla did with her singing career. It is therefore extraordinary to have also succeeded in adding a pair of number one TV shows in the 1980s to match her chart-topping songs. For almost a decade, Blind Date<em> </em>and Surprise Surprise<em> </em>allowed her to dominate the ITV weekend schedule in much the same way Ant and Dec do now.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/02/priscilla-white-the-sparky-liverpudlian-audiences-came-to-know-as-our-cilla">Continue reading...</a>Cilla BlackTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureMusicPop and rockSun, 02 Aug 2015 15:34:43 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/02/priscilla-white-the-sparky-liverpudlian-audiences-came-to-know-as-our-cillaPhotograph: APCilla Black with her then fiance Bobby Willis in 1969. She was left devastated by her husband’s death 30 years later.Mark Lawson2015-08-02T15:34:43ZCilla Black, singer and TV personality, dies aged 72http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/aug/02/cilla-black-dies-aged-72
<p>Figures from world of entertainment and beyond pay tribute to singer and TV presenter who is thought to have died of natural causes</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/02/cilla-black">Obituary: a star born in the British pop revolution</a></li><li><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/may/11/cilla-black-bafta-tv-awards-2014-interview">2014 interview: ‘I never thought I’d be on TV’</a></li><li><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/gallery/2015/aug/02/cilla-black-life-in-pictures">Cilla Black: a life in pictures</a></li></ul><p>The television personality Cilla Black has died at the age of 72 in Spain.</p><p>Spanish police <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11778819/Cilla-Black-dies-aged-72.html">quoted by the Telegraph</a> said on Sunday that British national Priscilla White – the Blind Date presenter’s real name – had died.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/aug/02/cilla-black-dies-aged-72">Continue reading...</a>Cilla BlackCultureUK newsTelevisionTelevision & radioSpainWorld newsSun, 02 Aug 2015 14:05:36 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/aug/02/cilla-black-dies-aged-72Photograph: Press AssociationCilla Black died at her home in the south of Spain.Photograph: Press AssociationCilla Black died at her home in the south of Spain.Chris Johnston2015-08-02T14:05:36ZThe life and work of Cilla Black - videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/video/2015/aug/02/cilla-black-video
A look back at the career of singer and TV star Cilla Black who has died at the age of 72 in Spain. The Liverpool-born entertainer, born Priscilla White, began her singing career, which spanned five decades, in 1963 with two number one singles: Anyone Who Had a Heart and You're My World. Black's presenting career began in 1984 with Surprise, Surprise, which ran until 2001. However, she is best known for Blind Date on ITV, which ran for 18 years from 1985 <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/video/2015/aug/02/cilla-black-video">Continue reading...</a>Cilla BlackUK newsCultureSun, 02 Aug 2015 13:27:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/video/2015/aug/02/cilla-black-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for Cilla BlackGuardian Staff2015-08-02T13:27:00ZCilla Black obituaryhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/02/cilla-black
One of the leading pop singers of the 1960s who went on to have a successful television career with Blind Date and Surprise, Surprise<p>The British pop revolution of the 1960s involved not only male guitar bands, but also several young female singing stars, including Cilla Black, who has died aged 72. Of these, Dusty Springfield was the most technically proficient and the most temperamental; Lulu had the most powerful vocal cords but weaker songs; Sandie Shaw had a trendy, kooky image and songs to match; and Black benefited hugely from her association with the Beatles – John Lennon and Paul McCartney composed several of her hits – and their manager Brian Epstein.</p><p>Additionally, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/jun/14/broadcasting.arts">Black</a> was the most telegenic. What one critic called her “gauche, unsophisticated girl-next-door image” propelled her from pop-star beginnings to become in later years the most highly paid woman in British television, with her shows Surprise, Surprise and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI51-B3kUBo">Blind Date</a>.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/02/cilla-black">Continue reading...</a>Cilla BlackTelevisionPop and rockMusicUK newsLiverpoolThe BeatlesPaul McCartneyJohn LennonTelevision & radioDusty SpringfieldTelevision industryITV channelSun, 02 Aug 2015 13:05:53 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/02/cilla-blackPhotograph: David Hartley/Rex ShutterstockCilla Black in 2009. Photograph: David Hartley/Rex ShutterstockPhotograph: David Hartley/Rex ShutterstockCilla Black in 2009. Photograph: David Hartley/Rex ShutterstockDave Laing2015-08-02T13:05:53ZCilla Black – a life in pictureshttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/gallery/2015/aug/02/cilla-black-life-in-pictures
<p>Singer and TV presenter, who has <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/aug/02/cilla-black-dies-aged-72">died in Spain aged 72</a>, was a familiar face on TV and in the pop charts throughout the 1960s and 70s</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/gallery/2015/aug/02/cilla-black-life-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a>Cilla BlackMusicTelevisionCultureTelevision & radioUK newsSun, 02 Aug 2015 12:56:37 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/gallery/2015/aug/02/cilla-black-life-in-picturesPhotograph: ITVPhotograph: ITVGuardian Staff2015-08-02T12:56:37ZFriday’s best TVhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/friday-best-tv-curvy-brides-ripper-street-dag
<p>Curvy Brides provides plenty of diva moments; Ripper Street returns with a bang; and Norwegian sitcom Dag offers a deadpan but highly watchable opening double bill. Plus, Richard Wilson presents a profile of Samuel Beckett in Artsnight</p><p>Sisters Yukia and Yuneisia run Curvaceous Couture, a boutique for plus-size brides. They have plenty to say about their customers, such as Jennifer, who wants to showcase her upper body with lots of bling, and heavily pregnant Victoria. In the first of tonight’s double bill, Whitney Thompson from America’s Next Top Model pops in for a fitting and, in the second, Yukia despairs about how awful her wedding photos were so she decides on a reshoot. Cue plenty of diva moments as she and her “entourage” pick out her gown. <em>Hannah Verdier</em></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/friday-best-tv-curvy-brides-ripper-street-dag">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionTelevision & radioCultureFri, 31 Jul 2015 06:00:15 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/friday-best-tv-curvy-brides-ripper-street-dagPhotograph: Bernard Walsh/BBC/Tiger Aspect/Bernard WalshRipper Street, BBC1, back for a third season.Photograph: Bernard Walsh/BBC/Tiger Aspect/Bernard WalshRipper Street, BBC1, back for a third season.Hannah Verdier, Jack Seale, Graeme Virtue, Phil Harrison, David Stubbs, Ali Catterall, Paul Howlett2015-07-31T06:00:15ZCatch-up TV guide: from the bloodshed of Banshee to The Outcast's sober dramahttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/27/catch-up-tv-guide
<p>Season three of the crime show continues, while Sadie Jones adapts her melancholy 50s-set novel for the radio</p><p>While it may pride itself on its operatic levels of bloodshed (a throat being ripped out by a car hood ornament, anyone?), this pulpy action drama (pictured, right) about a lawless Pennsylvanian town is made up of more than violence alone, confronting the notion of moral codes and how firmly we should enforce them. Season three continues Thursdays, Sky Atlantic, while the series in full is available on Sky On Demand and Now TV.<br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/27/catch-up-tv-guide">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionTelevision & radioCultureMon, 27 Jul 2015 08:00:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/27/catch-up-tv-guidePhotograph: PRBanshee.Photograph: PRBanshee.Rachel Aroesti &amp; Gwilym Mumford2015-07-27T08:00:02ZNew on Netflix in July: Wet Hot American Summer, Chris Tucker Live and BoJack Horseman S2http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/02/new-on-netflix-in-july-wet-hot-american-summer-chris-tucker-live-and-bojack-horseman-s2
<p>The cult summer-camp film starring Janeane Garofolo, Bradley Cooper, Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler returns as a TV series, there’s a second season of BoJack Horseman and films including A Most Wanted Man and The World’s End</p><p><strong>Wet Hot American Summer</strong> 31 July</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/02/new-on-netflix-in-july-wet-hot-american-summer-chris-tucker-live-and-bojack-horseman-s2">Continue reading...</a>NetflixTelevisionBradley CooperAmy PoehlerPaul RuddThu, 02 Jul 2015 11:28:30 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/02/new-on-netflix-in-july-wet-hot-american-summer-chris-tucker-live-and-bojack-horseman-s2Photograph: Saeed Adyani/NetflixNo can do … Janeane Garofalo in Wet Hot American Summer.Photograph: Saeed Adyani/NetflixNo can do … Janeane Garofalo in Wet Hot American Summer.Richard Vine2015-07-02T11:28:30ZThe Avengers box set review: ‘An exciting, playful and thoroughly British take on the action genre’http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/30/the-avengers-british-action-genre-patrick-macnee-honor-blackman-diana-rigg
This colourful classic, starring Patrick Macnee as the mysterious bowler-hatted spy with a female sidekick, was one of the first UK shows to achieve real success in the US and beyond<p>Arriving in 1961, this British classic transcended its humble, gritty beginnings to become a colourful, surreal flagship for almost everything fun and groovy about the swinging 60s. One of the first UK shows to achieve real success in the US and beyond, The Avengers gave a global audience an exciting, playful and thoroughly British take on the action genre. To be fair, it is at its best in series three to five, by which point mysterious spy John Steed has taken centre stage in the battle against crime, aided by Honor Blackman as Cathy Gale.</p><p>All the recent tributes for the late <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/25/patrick-macnee">Patrick Macnee</a> ran pictures of him as Steed, the role with which he became synonymous. The much-loved actor apparently brought a lot of himself to the part: Steed was cultured, impeccably mannered, never patronising, sharp and always cheerful. Even when he thwarted a villain or discovered a wrong-doer, he seemed more disappointed in them than angry, which does feel very British. Steed never used a gun: instead, he employed a variety of martial arts and made good use of what were then the most boring accoutrements of wage-slave commuters: the bowler hat and umbrella. Ironically, the lack of gunplay and the increased hand-to-hand combat made the show appear more violent to US networks, which would regularly ban episodes.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/30/the-avengers-british-action-genre-patrick-macnee-honor-blackman-diana-rigg">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionTelevision & radioCultureThu, 30 Jul 2015 17:17:43 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/30/the-avengers-british-action-genre-patrick-macnee-honor-blackman-diana-riggPhotograph: Films/Rex ShutterstockPatrick Macnee as Steed and Diana Rigg as Emma Peel in The Avengers.Photograph: Films/Rex ShutterstockPatrick Macnee as Steed and Diana Rigg as Emma Peel in The Avengers.Phelim O'Neill2015-07-30T17:17:43ZCracking jokes and the Candy Dance: have you been watching The Javone Prince Show?http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/23/cracking-jokes-and-the-candy-dance-have-you-been-watching-the-javone-prince-show
<p>This new comedy sketch show offers parodies, cringe-inducing moments about matters of race in middle England – and the opportunity to dance to Cameo</p><p>Amid the dearth of minority-led entertainment in the UK, this new sketch show on BBC2 starring <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/19/the-javone-prince-show">Javone Prince</a> (AKA Jerwayne from cult E4 comedy Phoneshop, and also an alumnus of Little Miss Jocelyn, the black-led sketch show which ended in 2008) is an exciting proposition. With energy and just the right amount of chutzpah, he enthrals a crowd at London’s <a href="http://www.therivoli.co.uk/">Rivoli Ballroom</a> with anecdotes and guests, segueing into slick, pre-filmed sketches. </p><p>It’s a platform not only for Prince, but for the show’s other regular black cast members, <a href="https://twitter.com/samsonkayo">Samson Kayo</a>, Jason Barnett, Akemnji Ndifornyen and Ann Akin. As well as a diverse cast, black voices were a crucial part of the writers’ room: the show’s creator, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/may/18/peter-bowker-lenny-henry-philip-glenister">Phil Bowker</a> (who also masterminded <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2013/aug/15/watching-phoneshop-e4-comedy-tv">Phoneshop</a>) enlisted Prince, Kayo, Ndifornyen and a black trainee writer from the BBC, Brian Birigwa, to work alongside himself and Jon Macqueen, another writer who, like Bowker, is white.<br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/23/cracking-jokes-and-the-candy-dance-have-you-been-watching-the-javone-prince-show">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionTelevision & radioCultureThu, 23 Jul 2015 14:43:12 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/23/cracking-jokes-and-the-candy-dance-have-you-been-watching-the-javone-prince-showPhotograph: Guy Levy/BBC/Guy LevyThe Javone Prince Show.Photograph: Guy Levy/BBC/Guy LevyThe Javone Prince Show.Hannah J Davies2015-07-23T14:43:12ZTrue Detective: season two, episode six recap – Church in Ruinshttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/27/true-detective-season-two-episode-six-recap-church-in-ruins
<p>This straightforward episode, bookended by two great set pieces, is the easiest to digest so far. But there are still an awful lot of loose ends to tie up …</p><p><em>Spoiler alert: this blog details events in the sixth episode of the second season of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/true-detective">True Detective</a>, which airs on Sunday nights on HBO in America, and Mondays in the UK on Sky Atlantic at 9pm &amp; 2am.</em></p><p><em>For the episode five recap, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/20/true-detective-season-two-episode-five-recap-other-lives">click here</a>.</em></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/27/true-detective-season-two-episode-six-recap-church-in-ruins">Continue reading...</a>True DetectiveTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureMon, 27 Jul 2015 14:10:19 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/27/true-detective-season-two-episode-six-recap-church-in-ruinsPhotograph: HBO/2015 Home Box Office, Inc. AllA terrible mumbler … Colin Farrell as Ray Velcoro.Photograph: HBO/2015 Home Box Office, Inc. AllA terrible mumbler … Colin Farrell as Ray Velcoro.Gwilym Mumford2015-07-27T14:10:19ZWitnesses recap: episode two – creepy clowns, sinister locations and plot holeshttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/29/witnesses-recap-episode-two-creepy-clowns-sinister-locations
<p>We get to know who the bogeymen are, find out more about some of the key characters, and even learn to spot some clues, but things remains obtuse in Channel 4’s French thriller</p><p><em>Spoiler alert: this blog details events in the second episode of Witnesses, which airs on Channel 4 at 10pm. To see a recap of episode one, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/22/witnesses-recap-episode-one-things-could-get-a-little-weird">click here</a>.</em></p><p>Perhaps we’ve been spoilt by recent continental policiers, but I can’t help feeling there may be a little less to Witnesses than meets the eye. For now, though, it still scores high on style and imaginative villainy, and outstandingly high on creepy locations (prisons! bank vaults! funiculars!). Coherence, though – not so much.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/29/witnesses-recap-episode-two-creepy-clowns-sinister-locations">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionTelevision & radioCultureChannel 4Crime dramaDramaWed, 29 Jul 2015 22:00:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/29/witnesses-recap-episode-two-creepy-clowns-sinister-locationsPhotograph: Newen Distribution/C4Please don’t send in the clowns: Laurent Lucas as Kaz Gorbier.Photograph: Newen Distribution/C4Please don’t send in the clowns: Laurent Lucas as Kaz Gorbier.Gabriel Tate2015-07-29T22:00:04ZHannibal episode nine recap: And the Woman Clothed with the Sunhttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/aug/01/hannibal-recap-season-three-the-woman-clothed-with-the-sun
<p>It’s a family matter as Will and Hannibal get close again and our new killer finds a new bit of prey – or redemption</p><ul><li><em>Spoiler alert: this blog is published after Hannibal airs on </em><a href="http://www.nbc.com/hannibal"><em>NBC in the US</em></a><em> on Saturdays. Do not read on unless you have watched season three, episode six, which airs in the UK on </em><a href="http://www.sky.com/tv/show/hannibal"><em>Sky Living</em></a><em> on Wednesdays at 10pm.</em><br></li></ul><p>Strangely enough, Hannibal is all about family, even when that family isn’t Will and Hannibal’s sexless same-sex marriage or someone going around gurgling about a “Verger baby”. This episode especially was about everyone imagining their own special version of what a family should be, and that always leads to complications in their own lives.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/jul/25/hannibal-recap-season-three-episode-8-the-great-red-dragon">Hannibal Recap: Season three, episode eight – The Great Red Dragon</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/aug/01/hannibal-recap-season-three-the-woman-clothed-with-the-sun">Continue reading...</a>Hannibal LecterUS televisionTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureSun, 02 Aug 2015 03:00:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/aug/01/hannibal-recap-season-three-the-woman-clothed-with-the-sunPhotograph: NBC/Ian Watson/NBCHugh Dancy as Will Graham, Lara Jean Chorostecki as Freddie Lounds.Brian Moylan2015-08-02T03:00:02ZJonathan Strange & Mr Norrell recap: episode seven – the finalehttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/28/jonathan-strange-mr-norrell-recap-episode-seven-finale
<p data-dropid="0">From the rousing prelude to the brave, bittersweet ending, the final episode of this excellent series may have deviated from the book, but it captured its spirit</p><p>And now the denouement. Strange is coming from Venice, brimming with vengeance, and the cowardly Norrell has perhaps sensibly high-tailed it back to Yorkshire and the protection of his library at Hurtfew. Vinculus hangs from a tree in a wind-swept ravine, and Lady Pole has taken to her bed and cannot be roused. There was much (too much?) to resolve in this final episode of Toby Hayne’s ambitious adaptation of Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange &amp; Mr Norrell. So how did it get on? Well, it was bananas.<br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/28/jonathan-strange-mr-norrell-recap-episode-seven-finale">Continue reading...</a>Jonathan Strange & Mr NorrellDramaFantasyTelevision & radioTelevisionCultureSun, 28 Jun 2015 21:00:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/28/jonathan-strange-mr-norrell-recap-episode-seven-finalePhotograph: Matt Squire/BBC/JSMN LtdLady Pole and Arabella in the final episode of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.Photograph: Matt Squire/BBC/JSMN LtdLady Pole and Arabella in the final episode of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.Ben Arnold2015-06-28T21:00:09ZMindbending thrills, redemption and orgies – have you finished Sense8?http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/18/sense8-mindbending-thrills-redemption-orgies-have-you-finished
<p>The Wachowskis sci-fi drama on Netflix gathers pace in episodes seven to 12, as the ‘sensates’ across the world get to know each other – and start to learn what is happening to them</p><p><em>Spoiler alert: this blog discusses events in episodes seven-12 of Sense8 on Netflix, don’t read on if you haven’t finished the season.</em></p><p>It was clear from the off that the Wachowskis’s divisive, mindbending thriller was very clever. But by the end, it proved itself something better than that; it proved itself to be really rather smart.<br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/18/sense8-mindbending-thrills-redemption-orgies-have-you-finished">Continue reading...</a>DramaTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureScience fictionThu, 18 Jun 2015 16:21:45 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/18/sense8-mindbending-thrills-redemption-orgies-have-you-finishedPhotograph: Murray Close/NetflixRiley (Tuppence Middleton) and Nomi (Jamie Clayton) meet in Sense8.Photograph: Murray Close/NetflixRiley (Tuppence Middleton) and Nomi (Jamie Clayton) meet in Sense8.Dan Martin2015-06-18T16:21:45ZGame of Thrones season five finale recap – Mother's Mercyhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/15/game-of-thrones-season-five-finale-episode-10-recap-mothers-mercy
<p>Justice, faith, revenge and repentence play out in the final episode of this season</p><p><em>Spoiler alert: this blog is published after <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/game-of-thrones">Game of Thrones</a> airs on HBO in the US on Sundays and on Foxtel in Australia on Mondays. Do not read on unless you have watched season five, episode 10, which airs</em><em> in the UK on Sky Atlantic on Monday at 9pm</em><em>. Also please avoid posting spoilers from the books.</em></p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/08/game-of-thrones-recap-season-five-episode-nine-the-dance-of-dragons">Game of Thrones recap: season five, episode nine – The Dance of Dragons</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/15/game-of-thrones-season-five-finale-episode-10-recap-mothers-mercy">Continue reading...</a>Game of ThronesTelevisionCultureTelevision & radioMon, 15 Jun 2015 09:21:18 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/15/game-of-thrones-season-five-finale-episode-10-recap-mothers-mercyPhotograph: HELEN SLOAN/2015 Home Box Office, Inc. AllBack in Castle Black… Jon Snow (Kit Harrington).Photograph: HELEN SLOAN/2015 Home Box Office, Inc. AllBack in Castle Black… Jon Snow (Kit Harrington).Sarah Hughes2015-06-15T09:21:18ZOrange is the New Black recap: season three, episode one – Mother's Dayhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/12/orange-is-the-new-black-recap-season-three-episode-one-mothers-day
<p>Welcome back to the Litchfield pententiary, where we find the inmates preparing for Mother’s Day in an opening episode that reminds us just what’s so good about Orange is the New Black</p><p><em>Spoiler alert: this blog details events in the first episode of season three of Orange is the New Black, please refrain from posting spoilers if you’ve seen more …</em></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/12/orange-is-the-new-black-recap-season-three-episode-one-mothers-day">Continue reading...</a>Orange is the New BlackTelevisionCultureTelevision & radioFri, 12 Jun 2015 15:49:44 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/12/orange-is-the-new-black-recap-season-three-episode-one-mothers-dayPhotograph: Netflix/NetflixSuzanne (Uzo Aduba) and Poussey (Samira Wiley) in Orange is the New Black.Photograph: Netflix/NetflixSuzanne (Uzo Aduba) and Poussey (Samira Wiley) in Orange is the New Black.Richard Vine2015-06-12T15:49:44ZFast and curious: what do you make of Sense8's telepathic tag team?http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/11/fast-and-curious-what-do-you-make-of-sense8s-telepathic-tag-team-netflix-episodes-one-to-six
<p>At the half-way point, the Wachowskis’ Netflix show really comes into its own, with the interlocking characters sharing life skills across the world, a decent take on LBGT representation and some great action scenes</p><p><em>Spoiler alert: this blog discusses episodes one to six of Sense8 on Netflix. Please don’t post any spoilers if you’ve watched further than this.</em></p><p>By now, you probably know at least a few things about Sense8, the TV debut from the Wachowskis, which launched this week on Netflix. Those things are likely to include: the fact that the opening sequence features a German jewel thief urinating on his father’s grave, a trans blogger being rogered senseless with a rainbow dildo by <a draggable="true" href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/sep/28/doctor-who-companions-billie-piper-catherine-tate-karen-gillan">Martha from Doctor Who</a>. And <a draggable="true" href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/feb/05/television">Naveen Andrews</a> from <a draggable="true" href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/series/lost-in-lost">Lost</a>.<br tabindex="-1" /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/11/fast-and-curious-what-do-you-make-of-sense8s-telepathic-tag-team-netflix-episodes-one-to-six">Continue reading...</a>NetflixTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureThu, 11 Jun 2015 10:46:50 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/11/fast-and-curious-what-do-you-make-of-sense8s-telepathic-tag-team-netflix-episodes-one-to-sixPhotograph: Murray Close/NetflixGlobal communication… Doona Bae and Aml Ameen in Sense8.Photograph: Murray Close/NetflixGlobal communication… Doona Bae and Aml Ameen in Sense8.Dan Martin2015-06-11T10:46:50Z1864 recap: episodes seven and eight – the final chapters from Inge's diaryhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/06/1864-recap-episodes-seven-and-eight-the-final-chapters-from-inges-diary
<p>Claudia reads to the baron for the last time, Didrich taunts Peter, and Inge and Sofia arrive back at the manor</p><p><em>Spoiler warning: this blogpost contains references to episodes five and six of <a href="http://preview.gutools.co.uk/tv-and-radio/1864">1864</a> on BBC4 in the UK.</em></p><p><em>To read the recap for episodes five and six, <a href="http://preview.gutools.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/may/30/1864-recap-episodes-five-six-the-party-is-over">click here</a>.</em></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/06/1864-recap-episodes-seven-and-eight-the-final-chapters-from-inges-diary">Continue reading...</a>1864DramaTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureSat, 06 Jun 2015 21:55:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/06/1864-recap-episodes-seven-and-eight-the-final-chapters-from-inges-diaryPhotograph: -/BBC / Per Arnesen / Miso Film 2013Laust carrries Didrich during the battle of Dybbol.Photograph: -/BBC / Per Arnesen / Miso Film 2013Laust carrries Didrich during the battle of Dybbol.Julia Raeside2015-06-06T21:55:08ZThe Game: season one, episode six – an endgame in sighthttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/04/the-game-season-one-episode-six-an-endgame-in-sight
<p> Finally Operation Glass was revealed – this was a largely satisfying conclusion to events, but the pacing felt slightly off</p><p><em>Spoiler warning: This blogpost contains references to episode five of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/the-game-tv-show">The Game</a> on BBC2 in the UK. Please do not post spoilers if you have watched further in the series on BBC America. </em><em>To read the recap for season one, episode five of The Game, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/may/28/the-game-season-one-episode-five-theres-more-than-one-mi5-rotten-apple">click here</a>.</em></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/04/the-game-season-one-episode-six-an-endgame-in-sight">Continue reading...</a>The Game: episode by episodeThe GameDramaTelevision & radioCultureTelevisionThu, 04 Jun 2015 21:00:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/04/the-game-season-one-episode-six-an-endgame-in-sightPhotograph: Des Willie/BBCCase closed? Sarah Montag (Victoria Hamilton) in The Game.Photograph: Des Willie/BBCCase closed? Sarah Montag (Victoria Hamilton) in The Game.Vicky Frost2015-06-04T21:00:04ZMad Men: what does the final scene mean? (Warning: spoilers)http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/18/mad-men-what-does-the-final-episode-scene-mean
<p>Fans are divided over whether the ending to Mad Men is idealistic or cynical – so what do you think?</p><p><em>Spoiler alert: this article discusses the final episode of Mad Men in detail.</em></p><p>Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner was one of the key writers on The Sopranos, whose final scene, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnT7nYbCSvM">a sharp cut to black at Holsten’s diner</a>, is still <a href="https://masterofsopranos.wordpress.com/the-sopranos-definitive-explanation-of-the-end/">endlessly</a> <a href="http://www.dga.org/Craft/DGAQ/All-Articles/1502-Spring-2015/Shot-to-Remember-The-Sopranos.aspx">debated</a>. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/18/mad-men-what-does-the-final-episode-scene-mean">Continue reading...</a>Mad MenDramaTelevisionTelevision & radioUS televisionCultureMon, 18 May 2015 12:59:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/18/mad-men-what-does-the-final-episode-scene-meanPhotograph: Justina Mintz/APHere’s to you... Mad Men reaches its conclusion.Photograph: Justina Mintz/APHere’s to you... Mad Men reaches its conclusion.Will Dean2015-05-18T12:59:09ZIndian Summers recap: season one, episode 10 – a spy in the house of hatehttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/apr/19/indian-summers-recap-season-one-episode-10-finale
<p>The first season of the Channel 4 drama reaches its climax, and it is time for three central characters to face up to who they truly are</p><p>So here we are. The last hurrah. The swansong. The final countdow – oh, let’s just get on with it.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/apr/17/indian-summers-gorgeous-ambitious-epic-have-you-been-watching">A gorgeous, ambitious epic: have you been watching Indian Summers?</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/apr/19/indian-summers-recap-season-one-episode-10-finale">Continue reading...</a>Indian SummersTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureDramaPeriod dramaSun, 19 Apr 2015 21:30:07 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/apr/19/indian-summers-recap-season-one-episode-10-finalePhotograph: Joss Barratt/Channel 4Finally in the Club … Aafrin, played by Nikesh Patel.Photograph: Joss Barratt/Channel 4Finally in the Club … Aafrin, played by Nikesh Patel.Rhik Samadder2015-04-19T21:30:07ZFortitude recap: season one, episode 11 – wasps, jam and an uncertain endinghttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/apr/09/fortitude-recap-season-one-episode-11
<p>The Sky drama reached the end of its first season a long way from where it started – and left fresh avenues open for season two</p><p><em>Spoiler alert: this recap refers to events in episode 11 of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/fortitude">Fortitude</a>.</em></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/apr/09/fortitude-recap-season-one-episode-11">Continue reading...</a>FortitudeTelevisionTelevision & radioSky AtlanticCultureThu, 09 Apr 2015 21:00:07 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/apr/09/fortitude-recap-season-one-episode-11Photograph: Amanda SearlePride before a fall... Yuri Lubimov.Photograph: Amanda SearlePride before a fall... Yuri Lubimov.Gwilym Mumford2015-04-09T21:00:07ZDaredevil recap: season one, episode two – The Cut Manhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/apr/20/daredevil-netflix-recap-season-one-episode-two-the-cut-man
<p>Netflix’s marvel looked to build Daredevil’s backstory this week and uncovered some stereotypical ethnic bad guys, skewed morals and Rosario Dawson</p><p>A slower episode than last week’s slugfest, and not in a bad way – we get more of Daredevil’s childhood this time around, although we still only see the trademark red costume in the credits and have to make do with the black ad hoc ninja suit during the rest of the fighting. This <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/apr/19/the-hobbit-battle-five-armies-daredevil-review-dvds-downloads">season is shaping up to be a 13-episode-long origin movie</a>, which suits me just fine.</p><p>Our story picks up just moments after the conclusion of the first episode, which ended on a not-really-a-cliffhanger in which Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) hears a child screaming for help. As the closing credits roll, we assume that, like Batman, he’s going to swoop down shortly and save the kid, but – surprise! – the kidnappers are ready for him and the first thing Daredevil does here is get the holy hell beat out of him by some Russian goons. He subsequently flashes back to his father’s mistreatment at the hands of Irish mobsters as he lies semi-conscious in a dumpster. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/apr/20/daredevil-netflix-recap-season-one-episode-two-the-cut-man">Continue reading...</a>US televisionNetflixCultureMediaTelevisionTelevision & radioMon, 20 Apr 2015 16:15:47 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/apr/20/daredevil-netflix-recap-season-one-episode-two-the-cut-manPhotograph: NetflixDefinitely Maybe: Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, channelling mid-90s Liam Gallagher.Photograph: NetflixDefinitely Maybe: Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, channelling mid-90s Liam Gallagher.Sam Thielman2015-04-20T16:15:47ZBetter Call Saul recap: season one, episode 10 – Marcohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/apr/07/better-call-saul-recap-season-one-episode-ten-marco
<p>The first season reaches its end – and Jimmy is going into an exquisite meltdown in a bingo hall</p><p><em>Spoiler warning: this recap discusses the tenth episode of </em><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/better-call-saul"><em>Better Call Saul</em></a><em> on AMC/Netflix.</em><br /></p><p><em><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/mar/31/better-call-saul-recap-season-one-episode-nine-pimento">Read our episode nine recap</a>.</em></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/apr/07/better-call-saul-recap-season-one-episode-ten-marco">Continue reading...</a>Better Call SaulTelevisionTelevision & radioUS televisionNetflixBreaking BadCultureMediaTue, 07 Apr 2015 09:29:13 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/apr/07/better-call-saul-recap-season-one-episode-ten-marcoPhotograph: Ursula Coyote/AMCBob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill in Better Call Saul.Photograph: Ursula Coyote/AMCBob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill in Better Call Saul.Richard Vine2015-04-07T09:29:13ZHouse of Cards recap: season three, episodes 11, 12 and 13 – are the Underwoods undone?http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/mar/02/house-of-cards-recap-season-three-episodes-11-12-and-13-are-the-underwoods-undone
<p>As one season closes, another is dangled teasingly in front of us. Frank is alone, Doug has done his foulest deed yet and the Democratic primary is hotting up</p><p>There is no such thing as closure. The seeming finale of a TV series, for instance, just tees up the next. So, after Claire Underwood told Frank “I’m leaving you” and made her magnificent exit from the White House, there was only temporary resolution; a false closure prompting all sorts of questions that can only be answered in season four.</p><p>Not that I’m complaining. I wasn’t looking forward to season three but much preferred its austere mood and gloomy visual and moral palette, to its more campily clamorous predecessors. There was much less of Kevin Spacey’s Frank Underwood appropriating <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylu3x72WHTs">the tic of his mentor</a> – Ian Richardson in the British original – and mugging in a putatively wise-assed-manner to camera. The dearth of those asides certainly helped make this season less risible and self-satisfied than the first two. You may have liked Spacey’s mugging, but I couldn’t possibly agree.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/mar/02/house-of-cards-recap-season-three-episodes-11-12-and-13-are-the-underwoods-undone">Continue reading...</a>House of CardsDramaTelevisionCultureTelevision & radioUS televisionMon, 02 Mar 2015 10:08:42 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/mar/02/house-of-cards-recap-season-three-episodes-11-12-and-13-are-the-underwoods-undonePhotograph: David Giesbrecht/NetflixHouse of Cards: Robin Wright as Claire Underwood. When you've gotta go, you've gotta go.Photograph: David Giesbrecht/NetflixHouse of Cards: Robin Wright as Claire Underwood. When you've gotta go, you've gotta go.Stuart Jeffries2015-03-02T10:08:42ZWolf Hall recap: episode six – a head on the blockhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/feb/25/wolf-hall-recap-episode-six-a-head-on-the-block
<p>Anne refuses to go quietly, and it is Cromwell who must carry out Henry’s dirtiest work yet in this unsettling conclusion to the series</p><p>With Wolf Hall’s final episode, Masters of Phantoms, we have a conclusion in which, as Scott put it <a href="http://www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/works/novels/waverley.html">at the end of Waverley</a>, nothing is concluded. With this adaptation, of course, there is the added complication that Hilary Mantel <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jan/16/hilary-mantel-new-book-no-thomas-cromwell">has yet to publish The Mirror and The Light</a>, the third part of her great historical romance. One looks forward to it with rather more eagerness than the newly announced <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/feb/24/broadchurch-3-and-other-shows-that-outstayed-their-welcome">third series of Broadchurch</a>.</p><p>Cromwell has, over the years covered by the narrative, become less sympathetic. There is blood on his hands – a bucketful by the end of this episode. But, as ever, he evades any charge of being downright despicable (as, for example, Henry most certainly is). However shredded his scruples may be, Thomas Cromwell remains, in his own peculiar way, scrupulous. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/feb/25/wolf-hall-recap-episode-six-a-head-on-the-block">Continue reading...</a>Wolf HallTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureWolf HallHistorical dramaDramaWed, 25 Feb 2015 22:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/feb/25/wolf-hall-recap-episode-six-a-head-on-the-blockPhotograph: Giles Keyte/BBC/Company Productions LtdWolf Hall: Claire Foy as Anne Boleyn.Photograph: Giles Keyte/BBC/Company Productions LtdWolf Hall: Claire Foy as Anne Boleyn.John Sutherland2015-02-25T22:00:01ZCharlotte Rampling: ‘You can’t fool an audience with lots of bits and pieces. You have to lead them somewhere’http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jun/28/charlotte-rampling-neck-of-the-woods-berlin-broadchurch
The Broadchurch star on our fear of wolves, the joy of working with English actors and her ‘iconic’ image<p><strong>Very shortly, you’ll be appearing in Manchester in </strong><a href="http://www.mif.co.uk/event/neck-of-the-woods" title="Manchester International Festival"><strong><em>Neck of the Woods</em></strong></a><strong>, a theatrical collaboration between Turner prize winner </strong><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/may/17/douglas-gordon-artist" title=""><strong>Douglas Gordon</strong></a><strong>, pianist </strong><a href="http://helenegrimaud.com/" title=""><strong>H&eacute;l&egrave;ne Grimaud</strong></a><strong>, writer </strong><a href="http://www.veronicagonzalezpena.com/" title=""><strong>Veronica Gonzalez Pe&ntilde;a</strong></a><strong> and you. It’s about wolves, isn’t it?</strong><br />Yes, I will be the narrator, the interpreter, the person who will actually lead you through the story. There is a fundamental theme, which is the mysteriousness of the wolf, the bad reputation of the wolf, the mythology and the wolf in psychoanalytical terms.</p><p><strong>Wolves seem to have come back to the fore recently, especially with an interest in rewilding. Why do you think they continue to fascinate?</strong><br />There’s something about the wolf, I guess, because since childhood and fairy stories we have had this idea of this ultimate predator, just waiting to pounce on us, waiting to come in. It’s always as if he’s hovering, this wolf, and going to get us one day.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jun/28/charlotte-rampling-neck-of-the-woods-berlin-broadchurch">Continue reading...</a>Charlotte RamplingFilmBroadchurch45 YearsBerlin film festival 2015Manchester international festival 2015CultureSun, 28 Jun 2015 05:59:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jun/28/charlotte-rampling-neck-of-the-woods-berlin-broadchurchPhotograph: Jeff Vespa/Contour by Getty ImagesCharlotte Rampling: ‘Shall I slow down or make sure I’m still connecting with the world?’ Photograph: Jeff Vespa/Contour by Getty ImagesPhotograph: Jeff Vespa/Contour by Getty ImagesCharlotte Rampling: ‘Shall I slow down or make sure I’m still connecting with the world?’ Photograph: Jeff Vespa/Contour by Getty ImagesAlex Clark2015-06-28T05:59:10ZSpiral recap: season five, episodes 11 and 12 – a resolution, of sortshttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/feb/14/spiral-recap-season-five-episodes-11-and-12-a-resolution-of-sorts
<p>There were plenty of thrills to end this season of the French drama – with Laure, Gilou, Joséphine and Roban ending the series in unexpected places<br></p><p><em>Spoiler alert: This blog contains spoilers for season five, episodes 11 and 12 of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/spiral">Spiral</a>.</em></p><p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/feb/07/spiral-recap-season-five-episodes-nine-and-10-an-unusually-violent-week">Catch up with the previous episode blog</a><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2013/mar/16/spiral-state-terror-series-four-episodes-11-12"><br /></a></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/feb/14/spiral-recap-season-five-episodes-11-and-12-a-resolution-of-sorts">Continue reading...</a>SpiralDramaTelevisionCultureTelevision & radioSat, 14 Feb 2015 22:37:06 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/feb/14/spiral-recap-season-five-episodes-11-and-12-a-resolution-of-sortsPhotograph: Caroline Dubois/BBC/Son et Lumi re/Caroline DuboisGilou and Laure … another fine mess.Photograph: Caroline Dubois/BBC/Son et Lumi re/Caroline DuboisGilou and Laure … another fine mess.Vicky Frost2015-02-14T22:37:06ZHomeland recap: season four, episode 12 – Long Time Cominghttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/dec/28/homeland-recap-season-four-episode-12-finale-long-time-coming
<p>Whether you enjoyed this finale episode depends on what you expect from Homeland – but it was, without question, the best season since it began</p><p>Whether you felt satisfied with Long Time Coming will depend on what you wanted from a season finale of Homeland. If you expected the pyrotechnics of the past three seasons – assassination attempts, bombings, impromptu crane-based executions – well, you’re likely to be very disappointed indeed. But if you were just happy with something that provided some sort of emotional resolution while setting the show up for its fifth season, this did the job adequately enough. I’m just about in the latter camp, though with some reservations. Ultimately, Long Time Coming didn’t match its predecessors’ big finishes, but nor did it need to, given the trio of action-heavy episodes that preceded it. Instead, what we got was a brooding blue note, languidly (and at times soporifically) paced but still seismic in its implications for the series in the future. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/dec/28/homeland-recap-season-four-episode-12-finale-long-time-coming">Continue reading...</a>HomelandDramaTelevisionCultureTelevision & radioUS televisionSun, 28 Dec 2014 22:10:11 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/dec/28/homeland-recap-season-four-episode-12-finale-long-time-comingPhotograph: Twentieth Century FoxClaire Danes as Carrie in the Homeland series five finale.Photograph: Twentieth Century FoxClaire Danes as Carrie in the Homeland series five finale.Gwilym Mumford2014-12-28T22:10:11ZThe Fall recap: season two, episode six – an infuriating cop-out of an endinghttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/dec/18/the-fall-recap-season-two-episode-six-finale
<p>After all the tension, too many questions were left unanswered and those that were seemed contrived to leave the viewer hanging – and the possibility of another series</p><p>The finale in so many ways summed up season two of The Fall: moments of promise buried in a massive heap of storylines either too contrived to be believable, or introduced only to be discarded later. And while season two has largely failed to repeat the successes of The Fall’s first, much-acclaimed run, it very much replicated the disappointment of the first series’s finale – refusing to come to satisfactory conclusions in its desperation to leave the door open for a return to screen. It’s so infuriating for the viewer: if you’ve invested six-plus hours in watching a drama, the very least it can do is not leave you hanging for a year. (Or indeed, a great deal longer – despite Anderson saying she hopes there will be a third season, there’s been no announcement about a recommission.)<br /></p><p>And so we’re left with three characters clinging on to life: Rose Stagg, Paul Spector and Tom Anderson, while Katie’s fate is undecided. That seems pretty cynical storylining to me, but also undermines the idea that writer/director Alan Cubitt has taken great care to ensure the female victims in his story are not reduced to unnamed, disposable bodies. Rose’s torture and horror were used here purely as a plot device to allow that final cliffhanger – to give Spector his last powerplay and allow Jimmy to find him in the woods – which seems just as gratuitous to me. There was nothing in this finale that was about Rose: she existed only to allow us to find out more about Gibson and Spector (her guilt, his desire to reassure his daughter); even Rose’s discovery (and possible recovery) were immediately upstaged by Spector’s shooting.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/dec/18/the-fall-recap-season-two-episode-six-finale">Continue reading...</a>The FallTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureDramaCrime dramaGillian AndersonThu, 18 Dec 2014 22:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/dec/18/the-fall-recap-season-two-episode-six-finalePhotograph: Helen SloanThis is the end … or is it?Photograph: Helen SloanThis is the end … or is it?Vicky Frost2014-12-18T22:30:00ZThe Walking Dead recap: a season finale that had everythinghttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/mar/30/the-walking-dead-season-five-episode-16-conquer-recap
<p>In bravura style, this shocking season finale showed Rick confronting the people of Alexandria, and perfectly set up a very creepy season six</p><p><em>Spoiler alert: this blog is published after The Walking Dead airs on AMC in the US on Sundays. Do not read on unless you have watched season five, episode 16 (which airs in the UK on Fox on Mondays)</em></p><p>Of all the shows on television, none does a season finale quite like The Walking Dead, and Sunday night’s was no disappointment. Much like one of <a draggable="true" href="http://www.ew.com/article/2013/05/17/saturday-night-live-stefon-clubs-everything">Stefon’s nightclubs on Saturday Night Live</a>, the episode had everything: a zombie’s brain exploding inside its head, a guy fighting off weirdos with a stick like <a draggable="true" href="http://www.nick.com/videos/clip/tmnt-launch-character-profile-meet-donatello-9-29-promo-NHD14966-01.html">Donatello from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</a>, Carole picking on someone twice her size and demanding her dish back, a throat-slashing Sasha lying down in an open grave, and a disco ball hooked up in the back of a big rig. What more could you possibly ask for? How about the season finale perfectly setting up the challenge for the next season? Check.</p><p>The best part of the finale was near the end, where the action was cutting between four life-or-death confrontations. Rick was fighting off the three zombies that had been let into Alexandria; Sasha was fending off Gabriel; Glenn was beating the snot out of Nicholas; and Carol, Michonne, and the rest of the group were defending Rick from Deanna.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/mar/30/the-walking-dead-season-five-episode-16-conquer-recap">Continue reading...</a>The Walking DeadUS televisionDramaTelevisionCultureTelevision & radioZombiesMon, 30 Mar 2015 13:19:35 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/mar/30/the-walking-dead-season-five-episode-16-conquer-recapPhotograph: AMCOn the hunt … The Walking Dead finale.Photograph: AMCOn the hunt … The Walking Dead finale.Brian Moylan2015-03-30T13:19:35ZDoctor Who recap: Last Christmashttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/dec/25/doctor-who-recap-last-christmas
<p>After last year’s overblown special, this one played to the show’s claustrophobic strengths – and was probably the most Christmassy Christmas special they’ve ever done</p><p>Merry Christmas! And how about that: probably the only story that will ever be told in which “and I woke up and it was all a dream” was not a lazy get-out but a miraculous fist-pump of a happy ending.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/dec/25/doctor-who-recap-last-christmas">Continue reading...</a>Doctor WhoTelevision & radioTelevisionFantasyCultureThu, 25 Dec 2014 19:15:07 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/dec/25/doctor-who-recap-last-christmasPhotograph: BBC/David VenniThe Doctor (Peter Capaldi), with Clara (Jenna Coleman) and Santa (Nick Frost).Photograph: BBC/David VenniThe Doctor (Peter Capaldi), with Clara (Jenna Coleman) and Santa (Nick Frost).Dan Martin2014-12-25T19:15:07ZPeaky Blinders recap: series two, episode six – what a finale!http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/nov/06/peaky-blinders-recap-series-two-episode-six-what-a-finale
<p>Packed with revelations, this was Peaky Blinders at its best – a gut-wrenching and beautifully directed climax</p><p>What. A. Finale. I’ve really enjoyed this season, bloodthirsty though it has been, and this was a fitting end, a nail-biting, action-packed hour of tension that had me screaming at the screen more than once as Tommy Shelby’s long-promised Derby day of reckoning finally arrived.<br /></p><p>And what a day it was, packed with revelations (Alfie is double-crossing Sabini! Grace is pregnant! May is definitely not to be messed with!) and filled with casualties both deserved (goodbye Major Campbell, may your red right hand guide you to hell) and tragic (oh, Lizzy, it’ll be a long, cold day before I forgive Tommy for using you in this way). The odd clunky moment apart – I may stand alone but the scene when Grace revealed her pregnancy left me cold – this was Peaky Blinders at its best, a gut-wrenching and beautifully directed climax, which was not always easy to watch but which left me, like May a few weeks ago, exhausted but begging for more. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/nov/06/peaky-blinders-recap-series-two-episode-six-what-a-finale">Continue reading...</a>Peaky BlindersTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureDramaPeriod dramaBBC2Thu, 06 Nov 2014 22:00:06 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/nov/06/peaky-blinders-recap-series-two-episode-six-what-a-finalePhotograph: Robert Viglasky/BBC/Mandabach/Tiger Aspect/Robert ViglaskyCillian Murphy as Thomas Shelby in Peaky Blinders: he commanded the screen, making it impossible to look away.Photograph: Robert Viglasky/BBC/Mandabach/Tiger Aspect/Robert ViglaskyCillian Murphy as Thomas Shelby in Peaky Blinders: he commanded the screen, making it impossible to look away.Sarah Hughes2014-11-06T22:00:06ZDownton Abbey Christmas special recap – it worked as retro festive wallpaperhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/dec/25/downton-abbey-christmas-special-recap-it-worked-as-retro-festive-wallpaper
<p>Beautifully shot and wonderfully acted, yet all a bit too overcomplicated and drawn out. It must be the Downton Christmas special!</p><p>The labrador’s backside is back for Christmas. And let’s hope it’s not just for Christmas, eh? Actually, my Christmas wish would be that it is just for Christmas. Because if this convoluted outing proved anything, it’s that this series has outstayed its welcome. Unlike Isis the dog, whose absence in this Christmas special finally disproved the conspiracy theory that she was just absent from the last episode to tease us. Sorry, people, but Isis really is dead.</p><p>As always this was a beautifully made and wonderfully acted confection showcasing all the shortcomings of the Downton Abbey brand. In the opening sequences, it felt as if the actors had been directed to speak the dialogue slowly and carefully in order to help viewers a) worse for the cooking sherry and b) unfamiliar with Downton (as probably many Christmas-only viewers were – lucky them). There was a lot of signposting of characters and history, which only served to flag up that there are often far too many people involved and far too many things going on.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/dec/25/downton-abbey-christmas-special-recap-it-worked-as-retro-festive-wallpaper">Continue reading...</a>Downton AbbeyTelevision & radioPeriod dramaDramaCultureTelevisionThu, 25 Dec 2014 23:00:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/dec/25/downton-abbey-christmas-special-recap-it-worked-as-retro-festive-wallpaperPhotograph: Nick BriggsIt’s Christmas!Photograph: Nick BriggsIt’s Christmas!Viv Groskop2014-12-25T23:00:03ZWet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp review – the gang's back together and weird is still the wordhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/wet-hot-american-summer-first-day-of-camp-netflix
<p>The Netflix series provides an origin story like no other for the cult movie, with enough ridiculous plotlines and cameos to make happy campers out of the most diehard fans (even if the format is skewed)</p><p>There is one thing that Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, the new prequel series to the cult classic movie that Netflix started streaming on Friday, has that its predecessor never did: anticipation. When WHAS arrived in theaters in 2001 the only really recognizable cast members were David Hyde Pierce – who was starring in Frasier at the time – and the alumni from MTV’s too-short-lived sketch comedy program The State. No one cared that it was coming and it was a huge dud, at least at the box office.</p><p>In the 14 years since, several of the actors – Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper, Elizabeth Banks and Amy Poehler chief among them – have become huge stars and the movie has only grown in reputation with repeat viewing on DVD and, of course, streaming on Netflix. (It also seems to be no coincidence that the estimation of the movie has risen in tandem with the legalization of recreational marijuana use across the country.) It’s a shock that co-creators David Wain and Michael Showalter convinced every last one of them to return for a victory lap.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/wet-hot-american-summer-first-day-of-camp-netflix">Continue reading...</a>US televisionNetflixTelevisionCultureTelevision & radioArrested DevelopmentComedyFri, 31 Jul 2015 13:12:21 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/wet-hot-american-summer-first-day-of-camp-netflixPhotograph: NetflixWet Hot American Summer: First Day Of Camp.Brian Moylan2015-07-31T13:12:21ZPrince Philip: The Plot to Make a King review – ‘They mistrust and dislike Philip, for not being English, for not having gone to Eton, for not being one of us’http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/prince-philip-the-plot-to-make-a-king-review
<p>The story of the part-German prince, with sisters married to high-ranking Nazis, is not entirely unfamiliar, but it’s a good one, and there are some unseen pictures and footage thrown in to the mix</p><p>Poor Prince Philip. Poor? That gaffing chump? I&nbsp;know, but, having watched <strong>Prince Philip: The&nbsp;Plot to Make a King</strong> (Channel 4), it’s hard not to feel, if not sorry for him, then at least a teeny bit sympathetic to the way he is.</p><p>His life didn’t start too badly, in a lovely house on Corfu. But then Philip’s father, the king’s brother, was sentenced to death. The family managed to get out of that one, and out of the country, to Britain, where they were mistrusted and unwelcome – not for the last time for Philip. France next, where Philip’s mother was packed off to a mental institution, though it’s unclear whether there was really anything wrong with her or whether her husband just wanted her out of the way so he could shack up with his mistress, which he did, in Monte Carlo.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/prince-philip-the-plot-to-make-a-king-review">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionTelevision & radioCulturePrince PhilipMonarchyUK newsFri, 31 Jul 2015 11:29:40 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/prince-philip-the-plot-to-make-a-king-reviewPhotograph: National Portrait Gallery London/National Portrait Gallery LondonPrince Philip and Elizabeth in 1947.Photograph: National Portrait Gallery London/National Portrait Gallery LondonPrince Philip and Elizabeth in 1947.Sam Wollaston2015-07-31T11:29:40ZGlitch: Australian paranormal TV series struggles to bring its undead to lifehttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/glitch-australian-paranormal-tv-series-struggles-to-bring-its-undead-to-life
<p>The ABC’s six-part series aims for complex characterisation but gives us cookie-cutter corpses – these stiffs are drop-dead boring</p><p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/09/glitch-actor-patrick-brammell-online-tv-is-more-radical-and-raw">Glitch actor Patrick Brammall on the fine line between being drunk and undead</a></p><p>I’m your typical Aussie couch potato. My plate is full with a nine-to-five square-meal day job, followed by a seven-to-twelve TV binge session. Needless to say, my existence is mostly ordinary. </p><p>Yet American Horror Story’s washed-up, fame-hungry amputee who runs a freak show in Jupiter, Florida is someone I can relate to. As is True Blood’s feisty teen vampire struggling to abstain from draining her mortal boyfriend’s veins. Not to mention the mobster devoted to “waste management” in The Sopranos, Orange is the New Black’s lesbian drug mule and Mad Men’s alcoholic creative director crackerjack raised in a whorehouse who goes on to steal his dead army buddy’s identity.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/glitch-australian-paranormal-tv-series-struggles-to-bring-its-undead-to-life">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionCultureThe ReturnedDramaAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThu, 30 Jul 2015 23:32:24 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/glitch-australian-paranormal-tv-series-struggles-to-bring-its-undead-to-lifePhotograph: Ben Timony/ABCPatrick Brammall stars in Glitch: the characters rarely stretch beyond their rigid dialogue.Tom Ross2015-07-30T23:32:24ZShhhhhhh review – an exploration of silencehttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/30/shhhhhhh-review-an-exploration-of-silence
Total silence is not something we hear much of in our increasingly noisy world, and especially not on the radio, so this hour-long exploration is both thought-provoking and compelling<p>Silence isn’t something you hear much on the radio. It’s the stuff that could even make Westwood quake in his trainers. That dead air, the interview gone wrong, the pause of doom. So Lucy Powell’s hour-long exploration of silence, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06386cs" title="">Shhhhhhh</a>, was welcome and compelling.</p><p>Powell admits to being “enamoured and perplexed” by silence. Her fascination began when a zen master set her a&nbsp;kōan – for those who haven’t spent a lot of time hanging round a monastery, that’s a riddle set in the form of a poem, which needs to be answered in the same way. The big question was “What’s the sound before the bird sings?” and Powell proferred answers from “a yawn of infinity” to “a&nbsp;gap in the remorseless rush of mind”. “I tried to sound like a proper zen person,” she says, refreshingly. Her quest continues in this thought-provoking documentary, which smoothly leaps from one theory to the next with great enthusiasm.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/30/shhhhhhh-review-an-exploration-of-silence">Continue reading...</a>RadioTelevision & radioCultureThu, 30 Jul 2015 16:24:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/30/shhhhhhh-review-an-exploration-of-silencePhotograph: BBCSilence could make even Westwood quake in his trainers.Photograph: BBCSilence could make even Westwood quake in his trainers.Hannah Verdier2015-07-30T16:24:10ZGame of Thrones likely to continue for three more seasons, HBO sayshttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/game-of-thrones-likely-to-continue-for-three-more-seasons-hbo-says
<p>Executive defends the show’s gritty violence and says he is open to the idea of a prequel to the series</p><p>HBO’s most-watched series, the medieval fantasy drama Game of Thrones, is likely to continue through three more seasons, a network executive said on Thursday, as he defended the show’s gritty violence.<br /></p><p> The sixth season is now being filmed. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/game-of-thrones-likely-to-continue-for-three-more-seasons-hbo-says">Continue reading...</a>Game of ThronesTelevisionHBOFri, 31 Jul 2015 02:06:50 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/game-of-thrones-likely-to-continue-for-three-more-seasons-hbo-saysPhotograph: Helen Sloane/APGame of Thrones hit 20 million viewers on average for its fifth season and received 24 Emmy nominations including a best drama nod.Reuters2015-07-31T02:06:50ZHow to spot whodunnit: academics crack Agatha Christie's codehttp://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/02/academics-unlock-formula-agatha-christies-mysteries
<p>To mark 125 years since the Queen of Crime’s birth, experts analysed the methods, motives and locations in her detective stories to find out how to deduce the killer</p><p>For almost 100 years, Agatha Christie has beguiled readers with her much-loved mysteries. But now a panel of experts claims to have worked out how to answer the perennial question: whodunnit?</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/16/guardian-book-club-sophie-hannah-agatha-christie-death-on-the-nile">No one should condescend to Agatha Christie – she's a genius</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/02/academics-unlock-formula-agatha-christies-mysteries">Continue reading...</a>Agatha ChristieBooksCultureTelevisionTelevision & radioThrillersFictionSun, 02 Aug 2015 23:01:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/02/academics-unlock-formula-agatha-christies-mysteriesPhotograph: Carnival Films/ITVA scene from Lord Edgware Dies, starring, from left, David Suchet as Hercule Poirot, Hugh Fraser and Philip Jackson. If the setting is a country house, there is a 75% chance that the killer is female, the study found.Haroon Siddique2015-08-02T23:01:09ZMedia Monkey: Jeremy Clarkson, Jeremy Corbyn, and Katie Hopkinshttp://www.theguardian.com/media/mediamonkeyblog/2015/aug/02/jeremy-clarkson-jeremy-corbyn-katie-hopkins
Former Top Gear star’s attack on Amazon, Labour MP lays into Murdoch’s Sun and top job vacancies in political journalism<p>• As you’d expect, Jeremy Clarkson has not always been such a fan of Amazon. Just two years ago, looking bleakly at prospects for Britain’s high streets, he wrote in the Sunday Times that the popularity of online shopping would make them “home to nothing more than charity shops, pizza takeaway joints and Daily Mail photographers, prowling around looking for a drunk girl in a short skirt”. Eventually, Clarkson prophesied, “Amazon and eBay will turn Stow-on-the-Wold into downtown Detroit and cause Hartlepool to drown in a sea of vomit”. But there’s been no word yet from him on the impact of streaming video services on broadcasting’s high street - something underlined by a Times backgrounder under its report on the &pound;160m deal, headlined “Big money digital media are biggest threat to the BBC”.</p><p>• The Amazon Top Gear deal also makes Clarkson someone with a foot in two warring camps, and Rupert Murdoch probably won’t be happy with him. Once Amazon had insolently displayed its willingness to invest heavily in making and distributing video content, Murdoch <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/oct/29/rupert-murdoch-media-firms-unite-streaming-rivals-netflix-amazon" title="">called on the media industry</a> in October to take on Jeff Bezos’s company and Netflix by finding a digital champion (a “competitor”) to battle them. Now one of the biggest names in his newspapers - for all the mockery of him as unemployed post-BBC, Clarkson writes columns for the Sun and Sunday Times, and is the chief writer and figurehead of the latter paper’s Driving section - will be enlisting part-time for the hated online enemy.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/mediamonkeyblog/2015/aug/02/jeremy-clarkson-jeremy-corbyn-katie-hopkins">Continue reading...</a>Jeremy ClarksonMediaKatie HopkinsRupert MurdochTop GearTelevisionFactual TVAmazon Prime Instant VideoBBCSun, 02 Aug 2015 17:03:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/mediamonkeyblog/2015/aug/02/jeremy-clarkson-jeremy-corbyn-katie-hopkinsPhotograph: Van Heerden/Rex FeaturesTop Gear's Jeremy Clarkson, centre, has not always been kind about Amazon's influence. Photograph: Van Heerden/Rex FeaturesPhotograph: Van Heerden/Rex FeaturesTop Gear's Jeremy Clarkson, centre, has not always been kind about Amazon's influence. Photograph: Van Heerden/Rex FeaturesMonkey2015-08-02T17:03:01ZEgypt court further postpones verdict in al-Jazeera journalists' retrialhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/02/egypt-postpones-verdict-al-jazeera-peter-greste-mohamed-fahmy-baher-mohamed
<p>Decision on Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed rescheduled for 29 August</p><p>An Egyptian court has postponed for a second time its verdict in the retrial of three al-Jazeera journalists, rescheduling it for 29 August.<br /></p><p>The court had already <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jul/30/egypt-court-delays-al-jazeera-verdict">put off its much anticipated verdict</a> last Thursday because the judge was reportedly ill. Another judge at Sunday’s hearing said the verdict was being delayed again because other defendants in the trial could not be brought to the court room from their cells.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/02/egypt-postpones-verdict-al-jazeera-peter-greste-mohamed-fahmy-baher-mohamed">Continue reading...</a>EgyptAl-JazeeraAfricaMediaMiddle East and North AfricaTV newsTelevision industryWorld newsSun, 02 Aug 2015 10:54:57 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/02/egypt-postpones-verdict-al-jazeera-peter-greste-mohamed-fahmy-baher-mohamedPhotograph: Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty ImagesBaher Mohamed (second from left) and Mohamed Fahmy (third from left). An Egyptian court has postponed its verdict in the retrial of three al-Jazeera journalists, including Peter Greste who has since been deported.Agence France-Presse in Cairo2015-08-02T10:54:57ZSherlock will continue while stars are committed to the show, says Moffathttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/01/sherlock-benedict-cumberbatch-martin-freeman-steven-moffat
<ul><li>Showrunner in LA: ‘I’d like to see them age – not because I’m a sadist’</li><li>Moffat ‘staggered’ by government threat to BBC funding</li></ul><p>Sherlock fans have grown familiar with the waiting game between seasons, but they may be encouraged that showrunner Steven Moffat says he could see the project “going on for a long while”.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jul/26/benedict-cumberbatch-inside-story-hamlet-sherlock-school-actor">The outrageous fortune of Benedict Cumberbatch</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/01/sherlock-benedict-cumberbatch-martin-freeman-steven-moffat">Continue reading...</a>SherlockSteven MoffatCrime dramaTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureDramaPBSUS televisionMediaTelevision industryBenedict CumberbatchMartin FreemanLos AngelesCaliforniaUS newsWorld newsUK newsSat, 01 Aug 2015 21:48:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/01/sherlock-benedict-cumberbatch-martin-freeman-steven-moffatPhotograph: Robert Viglasky/BBCBenedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes.Associated Press in Beverly Hills2015-08-01T21:48:08ZChannel 4 renews Humans for second series ahead of season finalehttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/channel-4-renews-humans-second-series-season-finale
<p>Sci-fi show is broadcaster’s most successful drama in 20 years, with audiences engrossed by its depiction of AI and how it could threaten mankind</p><p>Channel 4 has announced there will be a second series of Humans, its most successful drama in 20 years, ahead of the show’s highly anticipated season finale on Sunday night.</p><p>Set in a parallel present, Humans has prompted widespread debate about artificial intelligence. It imagines a world in which we increasingly rely on robots, marketed as high-tech luxury house appliances. As the eight-part drama has progressed, it has wrestled with questions around artificial intelligence and its possible threat to mankind, as well as exploring what it means to be human. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/channel-4-renews-humans-second-series-season-finale">Continue reading...</a>HumansChannel 4UK newsTelevisionTelevision & radioTelevision industryCultureMediaArtificial intelligence (AI)ConsciousnessScienceTechnologyFri, 31 Jul 2015 17:50:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/channel-4-renews-humans-second-series-season-finalePhotograph: Channel 4Gemma Chan in Humans. The series has tackled questions about the potential dangers of AI.Hannah Ellis-Petersen2015-07-31T17:50:00ZJon Stewart confirms last guests before his Daily Show finalehttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/jon-stewart-daily-show-final-guests-amy-schumer-denis-leary-louis-ck
<p>The satirist revealed Amy Schumer, Denis Leary and Louis CK will join him in the lead-up to his last show on 6 August</p><p>Amy Schumer, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/16/sexdrugsrockroll-tv-show-about-a-washed-up-rocker-is-a-played-out-tune">Denis Leary</a> and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/18/louis-ck-snl-jokes-child-abuse-too-far">Louis CK</a> will be the final three guests during Jon Stewart’s tenure at the Daily Show, with the three comedians rounding off the long list of guests the satirist has had on his show in its 16-year run.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/22/obama-on-the-daily-show-executive-order-jon-stewart-cannot-leave">'Jon Stewart cannot leave' - Obama says goodbye on The Daily Show</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/jon-stewart-daily-show-final-guests-amy-schumer-denis-leary-louis-ck">Continue reading...</a>US televisionJon StewartComedyLouis CKAmy SchumerCultureTelevisionTelevision & radioFri, 31 Jul 2015 15:07:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/31/jon-stewart-daily-show-final-guests-amy-schumer-denis-leary-louis-ckPhotograph: Victoria Will/Invision/APJon Stewart prepares to bow out after 16 years on the Daily Show.Lanre Bakare2015-07-31T15:07:01ZJavone Prince Show, Undercover, Witnesses and more: TV review-videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jul/28/javone-prince-show-undercover-witnesses-tv-review-video
In his review of the week's TV, telly addict Andrew Collins turns for a laugh to the brand new Javone Prince Show on BBC2, a sketch show built around racial profiling in Diversity Britain; returns to the comedy-drama Undercover on Dave to see if the drama outweighed the comedy; welcomes an overcast new French policier Witnesses on Channel 4; enjoys the attack on everyday sexism in Marvel spin-off Agent Carter on Fox; gets to the end of Norwegian wartime thriller The Saboteurs on More4; and finds Zen in BBC1's Animal Super Parents<br /><br />• <strong>WARNING: CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE</strong> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jul/28/javone-prince-show-undercover-witnesses-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioTue, 28 Jul 2015 07:59:13 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jul/28/javone-prince-show-undercover-witnesses-tv-review-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for Javone Prince Show, Undercover, Witnesses and more: TV review-videoAndrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-07-28T07:59:13ZBBC Breakfast presenter Bill Turnbull says c-word live on air – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/media/video/2015/jul/21/bbc-breakfast-presenter-bill-turnbull-swears-on-air-video
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jul/21/bill-turnbull-c-word-bbc-breakfast">BBC presenter Bill Turnbull stumbles over his words </a>and accidentally swears live on BBC Breakfast on Tuesday morning. In a segment discussing cancer treatments Turnbull mispronounces the word 'client'. The two presenters brush over the slip. The BBC later released a statement apologising for any offence caused <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/video/2015/jul/21/bbc-breakfast-presenter-bill-turnbull-swears-on-air-video">Continue reading...</a>TV newsBBCTelevisionUK newsThe news on TVMediaTue, 21 Jul 2015 10:16:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/video/2015/jul/21/bbc-breakfast-presenter-bill-turnbull-swears-on-air-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for BBC Breakfast presenter says C-word live on air videoGuardian Staff2015-07-21T10:16:00ZX-files trailer: Mulder and Scully reunite with some old friendshttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/17/x-files-trailer-mulder-and-scully-reunite-with-some-old-friends
<p>There are some clues, if few surprises, in the trailer for next year’s six-part ‘event series’ on Fox, starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson </p><p>In this teaser for the new six-part “event series” revival on Fox next year, there are a few more clues to get X-fans in the mood (although not really any surprises). The military is involved – with a shadowy-looking man in black in the background. There’s something being injected into someone’s arm: black oil perhaps? Someone’s treading on Mulder’s iconic “I WANT TO BELIEVE” poster. And Mulder and Scully have remembered the batteries for their torches.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/17/x-files-trailer-mulder-and-scully-reunite-with-some-old-friends">Continue reading...</a>US televisionDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonTelevisionCultureFri, 17 Jul 2015 13:02:30 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/17/x-files-trailer-mulder-and-scully-reunite-with-some-old-friendsPhotograph: c.20thC.Fox /Everett/Rex FeaturesGillian Anderson and David Duchovny as agents Scully and Mulder in the original X-Files.Photograph: c.20thC.Fox /Everett/Rex FeaturesGillian Anderson and David Duchovny as agents Scully and Mulder in the original X-Files.Richard Vine2015-07-17T13:02:30ZThe Affair's season two trailer: it's not the first show to drag things outhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/15/the-affairs-season-two-trailer-its-not-the-first-show-to-drag-things-out
<p>The first series of Showtime’s drama was compelling, but then came a nonsensical cliffhanger. Can we trust that a second season will be worth committing to?</p><p>A new trailer has surfaced for the second series of <a href="http://www.sky.com/tv/show/the-affair">The Affair</a>, the Golden Globe-winning infidelity drama told from the differing perspectives of its two lead characters. The trailer itself is exactly what you would expect it to be – it looks like we are in for another rip-roaring funride of anguished pauses, mournful hugging and people punching inanimate objects while trying their damnedest not to look as if they’ve just really hurt themselves – but that’s not the point. The point is that there didn’t really need to be a second series of The Affair.</p><p>The final episode of the first series just aired in the UK. I know this because I distinctly remember spending that evening holding my head in my hands and wailing the word “Why?” over and over again. Because the series ended incredibly badly. Until that point, The Affair had been a decent little drama with a cute central conceit. But the final episode trashed all that, turning a programme that could have ended on a definitively elegant grace note into a cack-handed murder mystery that thudded in out of nowhere and clunked everyone across the head in the blind hope that we’d all be too concussed to realise how stupid it was.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/15/the-affairs-season-two-trailer-its-not-the-first-show-to-drag-things-out">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionTelevision & radioCultureRuth WilsonDominic WestHomelandThe FallDramaWed, 15 Jul 2015 13:56:53 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/15/the-affairs-season-two-trailer-its-not-the-first-show-to-drag-things-outPhotograph: ShowtimeAn affair to remember: Ruth Wilson as Alison Bailey and Dominic West as Noah Solloway in Series 1 of The Affair.Photograph: ShowtimeAn affair to remember: Ruth Wilson as Alison Bailey and Dominic West as Noah Solloway in Series 1 of The Affair.Stuart Heritage2015-07-15T13:56:53ZFear the Walking Dead – Comic-Con trailer reveals first look at LA's zombieshttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/11/fear-the-walking-dead-comic-con-trailer-reveals-first-look-at-las-zombies
<p>The first full look at The Walking Dead prequel rewinds to a time when kids were still worrying about homework rather than walkers</p><p>“What is man versus nature? Man may offer warmth, he may offer food – but nature always wins…”</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/11/fear-the-walking-dead-comic-con-trailer-reveals-first-look-at-las-zombies">Continue reading...</a>The Walking DeadUS televisionComic-ConTelevisionCultureTelevision & radioSat, 11 Jul 2015 08:44:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/11/fear-the-walking-dead-comic-con-trailer-reveals-first-look-at-las-zombiesPhotograph: Justin Lubin/APKim Dickens, left, as Miranda and Cliff Curtis as Sean in a scene from Fear the Walking Dead season one.Richard Vine2015-07-11T08:44:01ZWalking Dead season six trailer: the gore just keeps on coming (as do the walkers)http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/10/walking-dead-season-six-trailer-comic-con
<p>A four-minute trailer is unveiled at Comic Con and reveals a show that still piles on violent deaths, as well as some new additions for Rick and co to deal with</p><ul><li><strong>Spoiler alert:</strong> do not read unless you are completely up to date with season five (obviously)</li></ul><p>It’s only Friday afternoon and already the announcements are rolling out of Comic Con like a zombie’s guts after it’s been sliced open. AMC announced on Friday that The Walking Dead will return 11 October with an expanded 90-minute premiere. What’s even better is the network released a trailer for the upcoming sixth season. </p><p>No, this was not one of those 30-second teasers that just shows all the characters’ faces and the title of the show, and doesn’t give you any hint of what is about to happen. This was four minutes hinting at major story arcs in the upcoming season.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/10/walking-dead-season-six-trailer-comic-con">Continue reading...</a>The Walking DeadUS televisionDramaTelevisionCultureFri, 10 Jul 2015 20:56:11 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/10/walking-dead-season-six-trailer-comic-conPhotograph: Gene Page/APRed or (Walking) DeadBrian Moylan2015-07-10T20:56:11ZSherlock's Victorian-era Christmas special – watch the trailerhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/10/sherlock-victorian-era-christmas-special-watch-the-trailer
<p>The trailer for Sherlock’s upcoming BBC special, set in Victorian London, was launched at Comic-Con in San Diego</p><p>Steven Moffatt’s 21st century update of Sherlock Holmes has been one of the most talked-about BBC shows of recent years, pitting Benedict Cumberbatch’s meticulous detective against a host of contemporary foes – while keeping a little of the emotional repression of Conan Doyle’s creation.</p><p>Now for an upcoming Christmas special, Moffatt is doubling back on himself, taking Holmes and Watson back to their original Victorian setting, but clearly with a sprinkling of post-modern wit. As you can see from <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p02wnlqv/sherlock-sherlock-first-look">this trailer</a> launched at Comic-Con, there’s plenty of winking self-referentiality, both to Conan Doyle’s stories and the TV series itself.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/10/sherlock-victorian-era-christmas-special-watch-the-trailer">Continue reading...</a>SherlockTelevisionTelevision & radioBenedict CumberbatchMartin FreemanComic-ConCultureBBC1MediaBBCFri, 10 Jul 2015 08:14:58 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/10/sherlock-victorian-era-christmas-special-watch-the-trailerPhotograph: Robert Viglasky/Hartswood Films//PAMartin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch in the forthcoming Sherlock special.Photograph: Robert Viglasky/Hartswood Films//PAMartin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch in the forthcoming Sherlock special.Ben Beaumont-Thomas2015-07-10T08:14:58ZFargo: a first look at Kirsten Dunst and Ted Danson in season twohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/09/fargo-first-look-kirsten-dunst-ted-danson-season-two
<p>Two Hollywood stalwarts will be appearing in the second series of the television adaptation of the big-screen hit</p><p>With a few details emerging about the next series of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/dec/10/best-tv-of-2014-no-10-fargo">Fargo</a>, here’s a first look at two of the stars: <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2014/may/16/kirsten-dunst-five-best-moments">Kirsten Dunst</a> who plays beautician Peggy Blomquist, and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/jun/19/this-much-i-know-ted-danson">Ted Danson</a> as Sheriff Hank Larsson – who teams up with Patrick Wilson’s young Lou Solverson (Molly’s grizzly dad played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001018/">Keith Carradine</a> in the first series).</p><p>Set in 1979, this time the “true story” rewinds to fill in the gaps about the Sioux Falls incident that was mentioned several times in the first series. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/breaking-bad">Breaking Bad’s</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0687146/">Jesse Plemons</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Smart">Jean Smart</a> and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/parks-and-recreation">Parks and Recreation</a> star <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/mar/02/nick-offerman-stage-version-a-confederacy-of-dunces">Nick Offerman</a> are also in the cast, as is Evil Dead cult star <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/feb/12/bruce-campbell-evil-dead-my-name-is">Bruce Campbell</a>, who plays Ronald Reagan.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/09/fargo-first-look-kirsten-dunst-ted-danson-season-two">Continue reading...</a>FargoTelevisionCultureTelevision & radioThu, 09 Jul 2015 10:56:35 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/09/fargo-first-look-kirsten-dunst-ted-danson-season-twoPhotograph: FXKirsten Dunst as beautician Peggy Blomquist in Fargo.Richard Vine2015-07-09T10:56:35ZTrailer watch: a first look at Humans, episode fivehttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/09/trailer-watch-a-first-look-at-humans-episode-five
<p>In this clip from Sunday night’s next episode on Channel 4, Mattie seems to have changed her position on Synths</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/05/humans-recap-season-one-episode-four-blurred-lines-and-revelations">Humans recap: season one, episode four – blurred lines and revelations</a> </p><p>“Please reconsider this course of action, Mattie, it’s very unsafe…”</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/09/trailer-watch-a-first-look-at-humans-episode-five">Continue reading...</a>HumansThu, 09 Jul 2015 13:49:50 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/09/trailer-watch-a-first-look-at-humans-episode-fivePhotograph: Channel 4Gemma Chan in Humans.Photograph: Channel 4Gemma Chan in Humans.Guardian TV2015-07-09T13:49:50ZThe truth is in there: a first peek into the new X-Fileshttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/08/the-truth-is-in-there-a-first-peak-into-the-new-x-files-trailer
<p>David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are due to return as iconic TV duo Mulder and Scully in a mini series next year. Here’s the first glimpse of them back in action</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/shortcuts/2015/mar/25/new-x-files-episodes-cases-for-mulder-and-scully">Bees, sinkholes, hipsters: new X-Files cases for Mulder and Scully </a> </p><p>“I believe that what we’re looking for is in the X Files … I’m more certain than ever that the truth is in there.”</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/08/the-truth-is-in-there-a-first-peak-into-the-new-x-files-trailer">Continue reading...</a>Gillian AndersonDavid DuchovnyDramaTelevision & radioTelevisionCultureWed, 08 Jul 2015 13:15:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/08/the-truth-is-in-there-a-first-peak-into-the-new-x-files-trailerPhotograph: PRThe way they were: David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson in The X-Files.Photograph: PRThe way they were: David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson in The X-Files.Richard Vine2015-07-08T13:15:04ZWet Hot American Summer – First Day of Camp: first look trailerhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/02/wet-hot-american-summer-first-day-of-camp-first-look-trailer-netflix
<p>Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks return in a new prequel to the cult classic on Netflix, with guests including Kristen Wiig, Jon Hamm and Jason Schwartzman</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jan/28/wet-hot-american-summer-reborn-netflix">Wet Hot American Summer: a cult classic reborn on Netflix</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/02/wet-hot-american-summer-first-day-of-camp-first-look-trailer-netflix">Continue reading...</a>NetflixTelevisionCultureBradley CooperPaul RuddAmy PoehlerJon HammThu, 02 Jul 2015 14:47:16 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/02/wet-hot-american-summer-first-day-of-camp-first-look-trailer-netflixPhotograph: NetflixWetter, hotter… Wet Hot American Summer - First Day of Camp on Netflix.Guardian TV2015-07-02T14:47:16ZTrailer watch: BoJack Horseman, season twohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/30/trailer-watch-bojack-horseman-season-two
<p>A first look at the second season of the Netflix cartoon starring Will Arnett, Aaron Paul, Amy Sedaris as Princess Carolyn and Alison Brie</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/may/21/neighsayers-bojack-horseman-season-two-details">Neighsayers! BoJack Horseman: season two details</a> </p><p>“Well, that was another in a long series of regrettable life choices …” Now starring in what should be his dream movie (a biopic of Secretariat), the second season of washed-up sitcom horse antics will see BoJack attempting to become a “newer, better BoJack”, with Lisa Kudrow guest-starring as Wanda Pierce.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/30/trailer-watch-bojack-horseman-season-two">Continue reading...</a>AnimationTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureTue, 30 Jun 2015 15:39:40 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/30/trailer-watch-bojack-horseman-season-twoPhotograph: PRBoJack’s back …Photograph: PRBoJack’s back …Guardian TV2015-06-30T15:39:40ZHumans season one, episode two: sneak peek with William Hurt – trailerhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/18/video-humans-season-one-episode-two-sneak-peak-william-hurt
<p>George encounters up-to-date synth Vera in this clip from Sunday’s episode of Humans on Channel 4</p><p>“The particulate saturation in this room exceeds safe limits for men over the age of 60...” Will George (William Hurt) work out a way to live with his new bossy synth Vera (Rebecca Front)?</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/18/video-humans-season-one-episode-two-sneak-peak-william-hurt">Continue reading...</a>HumansTelevisionDramaCultureTelevision & radioThu, 18 Jun 2015 11:23:51 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/18/video-humans-season-one-episode-two-sneak-peak-william-hurtPhotograph: Colin Hutton/Channel 4Photograph: Colin Hutton/Channel 4Guardian TV2015-06-18T11:23:51ZWilliam Shatner lends voice to iconic children's show The Clangers – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/video/2015/jun/17/shatner-clanger-tv-show-video
Star Trek's Captain Kirk has taken on a new space-themed role: narrating the action in an updated version of iconic British show The Clangers. The show achieved cult status in the UK after running for two seasons between 1969 and 1974. The new Clangers will run on Sprout, the NBC-owned TV channel. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/video/2015/jun/17/shatner-clanger-tv-show-video">Continue reading...</a>William ShatnerCultureTelevisionWed, 17 Jun 2015 21:42:16 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/video/2015/jun/17/shatner-clanger-tv-show-videoSproutA new clip from The Clangers narrated by William Shatner Photograph: SproutGuardian Staff2015-06-17T21:42:16ZTrailer watch: Zawe Ashton in Channel 4's Not Safe for Workhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/16/trailer-watch-zawe-ashton-in-channel-4s-not-safe-for-work
<p>A first look at a new workplace comedy starring Zawe Ashton, Sacha Dhawan, Anastasia Hille and Jo Hartley</p><p>Channel 4’s new “<a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/not-safe-for-work">dysfunctional comedy drama about work for a jilted generation</a>” stars <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/zawe-ashton">Zawe Ashton</a> as civil service policy adviser Katherine, who finds herself relocated from Whitehall to Northampton as part of public-spending cuts. In this scene from the first episode, she meets her new boss, Danny (Sacha Dhawan), who has somehow jumped several pay grades since she last saw him …</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/16/trailer-watch-zawe-ashton-in-channel-4s-not-safe-for-work">Continue reading...</a>DramaTelevision & radioZawe AshtonTue, 16 Jun 2015 11:03:12 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/16/trailer-watch-zawe-ashton-in-channel-4s-not-safe-for-workPhotograph: Brian Sweeney/Channel 4Work it … Katherine (Zawe Ashton) in Not Safe for Work.Photograph: Brian Sweeney/Channel 4Work it … Katherine (Zawe Ashton) in Not Safe for Work.Guardian TV2015-06-16T11:03:12ZExclusive trailer: The Last Panthershttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/15/exclusive-trailer-the-last-panthers-sky-atlantic
<p>A first look at the new jewel heist thriller on Sky Atlantic starring Samantha Morton, Tahar Rahim and John Hurt</p><p>Filmed in London, Marseille, Belgrade and Montenegro, the trilingual thriller (English, French and Serbian) follows a diamond heist across Europe, where “a shadowy alliance of gangsters and ‘banksters’ now rules”. With <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/sep/12/samantha-morton-interview-rotherham-sexual-abuse">Samantha Morton</a> as Naomi, a British loss adjuster charged with recovering the stolen diamonds, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2014/jul/25/john-hurt-five-best-moments">John Hurt</a> as her boss Tom and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/mar/09/tahar-rahim-always-refused-play-terrorists">Tahar Rahim</a> as French-Algerian policeman Khalil.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/15/exclusive-trailer-the-last-panthers-sky-atlantic">Continue reading...</a>DramaTelevision & radioTelevisionSamantha MortonJohn HurtTahar RahimCultureMon, 15 Jun 2015 15:16:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/15/exclusive-trailer-the-last-panthers-sky-atlanticPhotograph: PRPhotograph: PRGuardian TV2015-06-15T15:16:03ZExclusive video: Better Call Saul's red/blue colour theoryhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/11/exclusive-video-better-call-sauls-redblue-colour-theory
<p>Did you pay attention to the colour-coding in the Breaking Bad spin-off? </p><p>How closely did you watch Better Call Saul? Did you spot the colour-coded clues: good guys in blue (cool), bad guys in red (hot) <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/betterCallSaul/comments/2x3leb/fire_and_ice_theory_in_better_call_saul/">apparently</a>… </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/11/exclusive-video-better-call-sauls-redblue-colour-theory">Continue reading...</a>Better Call SaulDramaNetflixTelevisionCultureMediaTelevision & radioAMCUS television industryThu, 11 Jun 2015 13:00:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/11/exclusive-video-better-call-sauls-redblue-colour-theoryPhotograph: Ursula Coyote/AMC/NetflixBob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman, Michael McKean as Chuck - framed by blue…Photograph: Ursula Coyote/AMC/NetflixBob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman, Michael McKean as Chuck - framed by blue…Richard Vine2015-06-11T13:00:10ZTrailer watch: Game of Thrones season five, episode 10 – Mother's Mercyhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/09/trailer-watch-game-of-thrones-season-five-episode-10-mothers-mercy-final
<p>A preview of next week’s final episode reveals swords being drawn, a trio of sad gents and a lot of pensive thinking in the dark</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/08/game-of-thrones-recap-season-five-episode-nine-the-dance-of-dragons">Game of Thrones recap: season five, episode nine – The Dance of Dragons</a><br></li></ul><p><em>Spoiler alert: don’t watch unless you have watched <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/game-of-thrones">Game of Thrones</a> season five, episode nine (and want to see a sneak preview of next week’s finale)</em><em>. Also, please avoid posting spoilers from leaked episodes and from the books.</em></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/09/trailer-watch-game-of-thrones-season-five-episode-10-mothers-mercy-final">Continue reading...</a>Game of ThronesFantasyTelevision & radioTelevisionCultureTue, 09 Jun 2015 13:32:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/09/trailer-watch-game-of-thrones-season-five-episode-10-mothers-mercy-finalPhotograph: 2015 Home Box Office, IncFire, meet ice … Melisandre (Carice van Houten).Photograph: 2015 Home Box Office, IncFire, meet ice … Melisandre (Carice van Houten).Guardian TV2015-06-09T13:32:08ZTop Gear fans get glimpse of final show with Clarkson, Hammond and Mayhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/08/top-gear-fans-glimpse-final-show-clarkson-hammond-may-bbc
<p>BBC reveals footage of episode shelved when Jeremy Clarkson was suspended for fracas involving TV show’s producer </p><p>The BBC has given Top Gear fans a first glimpse of the final episode of the show to feature Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. </p><p>The footage was shelved after Clarkson was suspended and then axed following his assault on a producer, but will air on BBC2 in the next few weeks. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/08/top-gear-fans-glimpse-final-show-clarkson-hammond-may-bbc">Continue reading...</a>Top GearJeremy ClarksonBBCFactual TVMediaTelevisionUK newsMon, 08 Jun 2015 19:31:39 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/08/top-gear-fans-glimpse-final-show-clarkson-hammond-may-bbcPhotograph: Stefan Rousseau/PATop Gear’s James May, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond in 2011.Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PATop Gear’s James May, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond in 2011.John Plunkett2015-06-08T19:31:39ZTrailer watch: a first look at Between, a Netflix original serieshttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/may/13/trailer-watch-first-look-between-netflix-original
<p>A new thriller about a town where everyone over the age of 22 is killed by a deadly disease</p><p><strong>What’s the sell? </strong>“The story of a town under siege from a mysterious disease that has wiped out everybody except those 21 years old and under. The series explores the power vacuum that results when a government has quarantined a 10-mile radius and left the inhabitants to fend for themselves.”</p><p><strong>Sample dialogue: </strong>“We need to pray.” “None of this makes any sense.” “It has been confirmed that no-one over 22 is left alive …”</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/may/13/trailer-watch-first-look-between-netflix-original">Continue reading...</a>US televisionNetflixTelevisionCultureMediaWed, 13 May 2015 15:38:24 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/may/13/trailer-watch-first-look-between-netflix-originalPhotograph: NetflixOnly young people are left behind in Between.Photograph: NetflixOnly young people are left behind in Between.Richard Vine2015-05-13T15:38:24ZDawn Chorus, The C-Word and No Offence: TV review – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/may/12/dawn-chorus-no-offence-tv-review-video
This week, telly addict Andrew Collins finds relief after the election in the BBC4 Goes Slow season, featuring relaxing film of birds, woodland, canals and glass-blowing; also, less relaxing, the BBC1 true-life cancer weepie The C-Word; a confusing comedy-drama-police-procedural No Offence on C4; un-scary true-life ghost story The Enfield Haunting on Sky Living; and the welcome return of Gothic monstrosity Penny Dreadful to Sky Atlantic; plus … some more birds<br /><br />• <strong>WARNING: CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE</strong> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/may/12/dawn-chorus-no-offence-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioTue, 12 May 2015 07:54:11 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/may/12/dawn-chorus-no-offence-tv-review-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for Dawn Chorus, All Aboard! The Canal Trip, No Offence and more:TV review-videoAndrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-05-12T07:54:11ZGame Of Thrones, The Jinx, Last Week Tonight, Newzoids and more: TV review – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/apr/21/game-thrones-jinx-newzoids-tv-review-video
This week, <strong>Andrew Collins</strong> reviews the return of Game of Thrones for its fifth season; also from HBO, The Jinx, a six-part true-crime saga with drama production values; on ITV, new satirical puppet show Newzoids, which draws inevitable comparisons; the BBC's Election Debate (with two leaders missing); and Gogglebox doing the Grand National, with hysteria the result <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/apr/21/game-thrones-jinx-newzoids-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioTue, 21 Apr 2015 09:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/apr/21/game-thrones-jinx-newzoids-tv-review-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for Game Of Thrones, The Jinx, Last Week Tonight, Newzoids and more: TV review - videoAndrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-04-21T09:01:00ZMad Men, Code Of A Killer, 1992, Freewheeling and Last Week Tonight: TV review – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/apr/14/mad-men-code-of-a-killer-1992-freewheeling-tv-review-video
This week, telly addict Andrew Collins joins the tiny minority who actually watch Mad Men on Sky Atlantic for its final seven episodes; tries to separate history from science in the true crime drama Code Of A Killer on ITV; discovers an exciting new Italian period drama on Sky with the self-explanatory title 1992; joins Ross Noble on a comedic jaunt around Andrew's hometown Northampton, courtesy of Freewheeling on Dave; and salutes John Oliver's exclusive interview with Edward Snowden on HBO's Last Week Tonight<br /><br />• <strong>WARNING: CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE</strong> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/apr/14/mad-men-code-of-a-killer-1992-freewheeling-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioTelevisionCultureTue, 14 Apr 2015 07:50:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/apr/14/mad-men-code-of-a-killer-1992-freewheeling-tv-review-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for MAD MEN, CODE OF A KILLER, 1992, ROSS NOBLE FREEWHEELING and more: TV review - videoAndrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-04-14T07:50:00ZHBO unveils True Detective season two teaser trailerhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/apr/09/hbo-true-detective-season-two-teaser-trailer
<p>First glimpse offers plenty of moody visuals and little else, but it looks as if the detectives’ mental and emotional states will be as crucial as the central murder</p><p>True Detective fans have got their first glimpse of how the second season of HBO’s hit crime drama will look as the cable giant unveiled the first trailer for the follow-up, which stars Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn.</p><p>Starting with a slow pan over Los Angeles – the series is set in the industrial location of City of Vinci, LA County – the trailer introduces the three detectives: Ani Bezzerides (Rachel McAdams), Paul Woodrugh (Taylor Kitsch) and Ray Velcoro (Colin Farrell).</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/apr/09/hbo-true-detective-season-two-teaser-trailer">Continue reading...</a>True DetectiveTelevision & radioTelevisionHBOCultureUS television industryThu, 09 Apr 2015 18:21:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/apr/09/hbo-true-detective-season-two-teaser-trailerPhotograph: HBOColin Farrell: all moodiness and moustachioed angst.Photograph: HBOColin Farrell: all moodiness and moustachioed angst.Lanre Bakare2015-04-09T18:21:05ZOrange is the New Black season three trailer: here come new inmates – and oldhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/apr/09/orange-is-the-new-black-season-three-trailer
<p>The first trailer has been released for Netflix’s prison ‘dramedy’ and reveals life at Litchfield is just as bittersweet as ever</p><p>The time has come. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, we’ve been graced with the first look at Orange is the New Black’s third season.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/fashion-blog/2014/jul/22/orange-is-the-new-black-hit-in-prisons">How Orange is the New Black uniforms became a hit in prisons</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/apr/09/orange-is-the-new-black-season-three-trailer">Continue reading...</a>Orange is the New BlackTelevisionUS televisionNetflixCultureTelevision & radioMediaThu, 09 Apr 2015 17:33:54 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/apr/09/orange-is-the-new-black-season-three-trailerPhotograph: NetflixFriends reunited: Piper and Alex ‘reconnect’.Photograph: NetflixFriends reunited: Piper and Alex ‘reconnect’.Anne T Donahue2015-04-09T17:33:54ZMoone Boy, The Royals, Coalition, and Inside No9: TV review – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/mar/31/moone-boy-royals-coalition-inside-no9-tv-review-video
This week, telly addict Andrew Collins bows and scrapes before The Royals on entertainment channel E!; enjoys the shirt-sleeved subterfuge of political drama Coalition on C4; braves the "non-debate" between David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Paxo on C4 and Sky News; hops aboard the latest claustrophobic playlet from Shearsmith and Pemberton's dark anthology Inside No9 on BBC2; and celebrates Sir Terry Wogan swearing on Sky 1's Moone Boy <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/mar/31/moone-boy-royals-coalition-inside-no9-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioTue, 31 Mar 2015 07:39:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/mar/31/moone-boy-royals-coalition-inside-no9-tv-review-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for Moone Boy, The Royals, Coalition, Cameron &amp; Miliband Live and Inside No. 9:TV review - videoAndrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-03-31T07:39:05ZRaised By Wolves, Britain's Racist Election, Back In Time For Dinner and more: TV review – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/mar/24/raised-by-wolves-britains-racist-election-tv-review-video
This week, telly addict Andrew Collins fails to be starstruck by coverage of the eclipse; applauds Raised By Wolves for being a hymn to the West Midlands, even if it is wilfully annoying; winces at 1960s race relations in Britain's Racist Election on C4; wonders if there is a more middle-class comedy than In and Out of the Kitchen on BBC4; puts up with the privations of Back in Time For Dinner on BBC2; and doesn't buy the lie in drama Ordinary Lies on BBC1. Now, back to that eclipse ... <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/mar/24/raised-by-wolves-britains-racist-election-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioTue, 24 Mar 2015 08:54:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/mar/24/raised-by-wolves-britains-racist-election-tv-review-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for Raised By Wolves, Britain's Racist Election, Back In Time For Dinner, In And Out Of The Kitchen and Ordinary Lies : TV review - videoAndrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-03-24T08:54:02ZPoldark, Nurse, Togetherness, and more: TV review – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/mar/17/poldark-nurse-togetherness-tv-review-video
This week, telly addict <strong>Andrew Collins</strong> bets his breeches on BBC1's high-def remake of Poldark; finds deep sadness in Paul Whitehouse's latest latex-indebted comedy Nurse on BBC2; salutes the endings of two moving shows, HBO's laugh-free comedy Togetherness and Reginald D Hunter's Songs Of The South on BBC2; makes an iPlayer recommendation for people-at-work civil engineering doc The Fifteen Billion Pound Railway; and some championship HBO swearing from satirist John Oliver<br /><br /><strong>• WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE</strong> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/mar/17/poldark-nurse-togetherness-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioTue, 17 Mar 2015 08:42:29 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/mar/17/poldark-nurse-togetherness-tv-review-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for Poldark, Nurse,Togetherness, Reginald D. Hunter's Songs Of The South and The Fifteen Billion Pound Railway:TV review - videoAndrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-03-17T08:42:29ZCritical, Wolf Hall, The World at War, The Great Painting Challenge and others: TV review – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/mar/03/critical-wolf-hall-world-war-great-painting-challenge-tv-review-video
This week, telly addict <strong>Andrew Collins</strong> checks his pulse and wheels himself into new, real-time medical trauma drama Critical on Sky1; laments the end of Mark Rylance's face-acting in the sublime Wolf Hall on BBC2; celebrates Laurence Olivier's pronunciation on The World At War; watches acrylic dry with The Great Painting Challenge on BBC1; and enjoys the ride with Reginald D Hunter for Songs Of The South on BBC2. There's also room for a bit of Gogglebox<br /><br />• <strong>WARNING: contains offensive language</strong> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/mar/03/critical-wolf-hall-world-war-great-painting-challenge-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioTue, 03 Mar 2015 11:09:56 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/mar/03/critical-wolf-hall-world-war-great-painting-challenge-tv-review-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for Critical,Wolf Hall,The World At War,Andrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-03-03T11:09:56ZThe Casual Vacancy, Indian Summers, The World at War and others: TV review – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/feb/24/casual-vacancy-indian-summers-tv-review-video
This week, telly addict <strong>Andrew Collins</strong> risks being caught in the crossfire of the Sunday night TV ratings war between JK Rowling's social satire The Casual Vacancy on BBC1 and its dramatic enemy Indian Summers on C4 at the same time; also, an actual war in a welcome repeat of 70s landmark documentary series The World at War on BBC2; the 30th anniversary live week of EastEnders on BBC1; a documentary about immigrants and benefits that provides food for thought, The Romanians Are Coming on C4; and the triumphant return of Gogglebox on C4 for its fifth series of armchair TV criticism <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/feb/24/casual-vacancy-indian-summers-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioTue, 24 Feb 2015 10:57:33 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/feb/24/casual-vacancy-indian-summers-tv-review-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for The Casual Vacancy,Indian Summers,The World At War,EastEnders,The Romanians Are Coming and Gogglebox:TV review - videoAndrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-02-24T10:57:33ZThe Walking Dead, Better Call Saul, The Daily Show, Last Week Tonight and Uncle: TV review – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/feb/17/walking-dead-better-call-saul-daily-show-tv-review-video
This week, telly addict Andrew Collins gets behind the sofa for the mid-season return of AMC's zombie saga The Walking Dead to Fox; finds himself a sucker for Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul, on Netflix; bemoans the resignation of Jon Stewart from Comedy Central's The Daily Show, and compares him to former protégé John Oliver, whose breakaway show Last Week Tonight returned to Sky Atlantic; and welcomes back surprisingly warm and avuncular BBC3 sitcom Uncle <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/feb/17/walking-dead-better-call-saul-daily-show-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioTue, 17 Feb 2015 08:51:45 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/feb/17/walking-dead-better-call-saul-daily-show-tv-review-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for The Walking Dead, Better Call Saul, The Daily Show,Last Week Tonight and Uncle:TV review-videoAndrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-02-17T08:51:45ZFortitude; Bitter Lake; The Good Wife; Suits; and Catastrophe: TV review – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/feb/03/fortitude-bitter-lake-good-wife-suits-catastrophe-tv-review-video
This week, telly addict Andrew Collins braves the cold of big-name, British-made Nordic thriller Fortitude on Sky Atlantic; lauds Adam Curtis's BBC iPlayer-only mega-doc Bitter Lake; welcomes the return of two glossy legal dramas from the US, season six of The Good Wife on More4 and season four of Suits on Dave; and gives a nod to the sweet soul of sexually frank comedy Catastrophe. Plus: some bunnies from a BBC1 pets documentary<br /><br /><strong>• WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE</strong> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/feb/03/fortitude-bitter-lake-good-wife-suits-catastrophe-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioLife and styleTue, 03 Feb 2015 10:20:38 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/feb/03/fortitude-bitter-lake-good-wife-suits-catastrophe-tv-review-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for Andrew Collins Telly AddictAndrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-02-03T10:20:38ZThe Outcast, Rock'n'Roll America and Ireland's Wild River: TV review – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jul/21/the-outcast-rock-roll-america-irelands-wild-river-tv-review-video
Telly addict Andrew Collins reviews the week's TV. In light of attacks on the BBC, he sings the praises of literary adaptation The Outcast on BBC1; rock doc <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/03/rock-n-roll-america-bbc4-preview">Rock'nRoll America</a> on BBC4; nature jaunt Ireland's Wild River on BBC2; and returning mockumentary People Just Do Nothing on BBC3; plus pirate drama Black Sails on History and Inside the KKK, to see that the commercial sector is in good health without asset-stripping the BBC<br /><br />• <strong>WARNING: CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE</strong> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jul/21/the-outcast-rock-roll-america-irelands-wild-river-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioCultureTelevisionTue, 21 Jul 2015 08:14:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jul/21/the-outcast-rock-roll-america-irelands-wild-river-tv-review-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for The Outcast, Rock &amp; Roll America, Ireland's Wild River and more:TV review-videoAndrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-07-21T08:14:00ZVeep, Penny Dreadful, How To Get A Council House and more: TV review-videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jul/14/this-week-penny-dreadful-how-to-get-a-council-house-tv-review-video
Telly addict Andrew Collins reviews the week's TV. He uncovers the secret of a more relaxed current affairs show while watching Andrew Neil's This Week on BBC1; salutes the season-two finale of Showtime/Sky's top-schlock Penny Dreadful; applauds the acting in 7/7 drama A Song For Jenny on BBC1 but feels a little voyeuristic; feels conflicted by How to Get a Council House on Channel 4 (where else?); and binges Netflix-style on the full season of Veep on Sky Atlantic<br /><br />• <strong>WARNING: CONTAINS STRONG AND RACIST LANGUAGE</strong> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jul/14/this-week-penny-dreadful-how-to-get-a-council-house-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioTue, 14 Jul 2015 08:24:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jul/14/this-week-penny-dreadful-how-to-get-a-council-house-tv-review-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for This Week, Penny Dreadful, How To Get A Council House and more: TV review-videoAndrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-07-14T08:24:00ZTop Gear, The Good Wife, Odyssey and Not Safe For Work: TV review – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jul/07/top-gear-good-wife-odyssey-tv-review-video
Telly addict Andrew Collins reviews the week's TV. He waves a solemn goodbye to the Clarkson/Hammond/May model of Top Gear on BBC2; assesses the end of the sixth season of The Good Wife on More4; wonders how stupid the makers of Homeland-alike thriller Odyssey thinks we are as it is imported by BBC2; and goes back to his hometown Northampton (or not) in new office comedy Not Safe For Work.<br /><br />• <strong>WARNING: CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE</strong> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jul/07/top-gear-good-wife-odyssey-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioTue, 07 Jul 2015 08:00:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jul/07/top-gear-good-wife-odyssey-tv-review-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for Top Gear, The Good Wife, Odyssey and more:TV review-videoAndrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-07-07T08:00:10ZGlastonbury, True Detective and The Brink: TV review – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jun/30/glastonbury-true-detective-brink-tv-review-video
This week, Andrew Collins tears himself away from the BBC's coverage of Glastonbury 2015 long enough to catch up with the return to Sky Atlanticof HBO's moody, noirish, anthological True Detective; a brand new, big-name political comedy, also from HBO, called The Brink; and a gripping contagion thriller in Flemish, Cordon, on BBC4<br /><br />• <strong>WARNING: CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE</strong> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jun/30/glastonbury-true-detective-brink-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioTue, 30 Jun 2015 07:56:42 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jun/30/glastonbury-true-detective-brink-tv-review-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for Glastonbury, True Detective, The Brink and more:TV review-videoAndrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-06-30T07:56:42ZThe Saboteurs, Jordskott and The Legacy: TV review – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jun/23/saboteurs-jordskott-legacy-tv-review-video
In his review of the week's TV, telly addict Andrew Collins indulges in a Scandinavian smorgasbord with brand new hit Norwegian-Danish-British second world war thriller The Saboteurs on More4; the latest Nordic noir detective mystery (this time from Sweden), Jordskott, on ITV Encore; the recent epic Danish war drama 1864, on BBC4; the return of family saga The Legacy to Sky Arts; and, for a bit of English-speaking respite, Undercover, a new cop comedy on Dave. Tak! <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jun/23/saboteurs-jordskott-legacy-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>CultureTelevisionTue, 23 Jun 2015 07:56:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jun/23/saboteurs-jordskott-legacy-tv-review-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for The Saboteurs, Jordskott, The Legacy and more:TV review-videoAndrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-06-23T07:56:00ZHumans, Napoleon and The Interceptor: TV review – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jun/16/humans-napoleon-interceptor-tv-review-video
In his review of the week's TV, telly addict Andrew Collins enters the synthetic world of a Swedish dystopian drama remade as Humans by Channel 4; fails to be convinced by historian Andrew Roberts' agenda in Napoleon on BBC2; gives 'the new Spooks', BBC1's The Interceptor, half a chance; is captivated by Zen nature doc Japan: Earth's Enchanted Islands on BBC2 and indulges Chris Packham's Natural Selection on BBC4, a Guardian reader's dream <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jun/16/humans-napoleon-interceptor-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>MusicTelevisionTue, 16 Jun 2015 07:49:12 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jun/16/humans-napoleon-interceptor-tv-review-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for Humans, Napoleon, The Interceptor and more:TV review-videoAndrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-06-16T07:49:12ZThe Syndicate, Brotherhood, Gadget Man and Springwatch: TV review – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jun/09/syndicate-brotherhood-gadget-man-springwatch-tv-review-video
This week, telly addict Andrew Collins checks his numbers for the return of lottery-based melodrama The Syndicate on BBC1; laments the sad loss of Rik Mayall from Man Down on Channel 4; wonders if he's too old to enjoy sibling slacker-com Brotherhood on Comedy Central; applauds the detachment of Richard Ayoade on Gadget Man on Channel 4; and finds Zen in some fledgling wrens thanks to Springwatch<br /><br />• <strong>WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE</strong> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jun/09/syndicate-brotherhood-gadget-man-springwatch-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioTue, 09 Jun 2015 07:43:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jun/09/syndicate-brotherhood-gadget-man-springwatch-tv-review-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for The Syndicate, Brotherhood,Gadget Man and more:TV review-videoAndrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-06-09T07:43:05ZSpringwatch; 1945: The Savage Peace; and Inside Amy Schumer: TV review – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jun/02/springwatch-1945-savage-peace-inside-amy-schumer-tv-review-video
This week, telly addict Andrew Collins give thanks for the BBC's biggest outside-broadcast ever, Springwatch; braves a horrifying but vital second world war documentary, 1945: The Savage Peace; samples the much-talked-about grown-up US import Inside Amy Schumer on Comedy Xtra; the ticklish Brit murder-mystery-comedy Murder In Successville on BBC3; and a new BBC1 sitcom, SunTrap, tucked worryingly away at 10.45pm so that nobody will see it<br /><br />• <strong> WARNING: DISTURBING IMAGES AND SEXUAL CONTENT</strong> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jun/02/springwatch-1945-savage-peace-inside-amy-schumer-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioAmy SchumerTue, 02 Jun 2015 10:15:53 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/video/2015/jun/02/springwatch-1945-savage-peace-inside-amy-schumer-tv-review-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for Springwatch, 1945: The Savage Peace, Inside Amy Schumer and more: TV review-videoAndrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-06-02T10:15:53ZMad Men, 1864, Grayson Perry's Dream House and more: TV review – videohttp://www.theguardian.com/global/video/2015/may/26/mad-men-1864-grayson-perrys-dream-house-tv-review-video
This week, telly addict Andrew Collins avoids spoiling the final episode of Mad Men; wishes he'd read the novel before attempting fantasy Jonathan Strange &amp; Mr Norrell on BBC1; gets wrapped up in year-specific Danish historical drama 1864; enters Grayson Perry's Dream House on C4, and likes what they've done to the place; and binges on all three grippingly grim episodes of cop doc The Detectives on BBC2 <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/global/video/2015/may/26/mad-men-1864-grayson-perrys-dream-house-tv-review-video">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioTue, 26 May 2015 14:31:20 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/global/video/2015/may/26/mad-men-1864-grayson-perrys-dream-house-tv-review-videoguardian.co.uk140x84 trailpic for Mad Men, 1864, Grayson Perry's Dream House and More: TV review-videoAndrew Collins and Mona Mahmood2015-05-26T14:31:20ZLife in Squares: why the Bloomsbury group’s talents are wasted on the boxhttp://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/jul/31/life-in-squares-why-bloomsbury-group-talent-box
<p>From Nicole Kidman’s Virginia Woolf to Emma Thompson’s Carrington, the Bloomsbury group have enjoyed a starry presence on screen, but as BBC2’s Life in Squares reminds us, their appeal has little do with paintings and books</p><p>“The Bloomsbury set defied convention in their morals,” the Daily Mail enthused uncharacteristically ahead of <em>Life in Squares</em>, “and blazed a trail with their take on design.” Promising to show readers “how to get the literary look”, the article neatly encapsulated the group’s appeal. Why the Bloomsbury group crop up so often on screen has very little to do with their books or paintings: they are feted as lifestyle pioneers, with their modernity as polymorphous lovers and avant-garde designers charmingly offset by their plummy voices and period clothes. The literary or artistic stuff is once again just a bonus in BBC2’s <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/28/life-in-squares-review-absurd-beautiful-characters-in-golden-world" title=""><em>Life in Squares</em></a>, which sensibly sticks to the rules established by previous portrayals of them on screen:</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/28/life-in-squares-review-absurd-beautiful-characters-in-golden-world">Life in Squares review: ‘absurd, beautiful characters in a ridiculously golden world’</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/jul/31/life-in-squares-why-bloomsbury-group-talent-box">Continue reading...</a>BooksCultureFilm adaptationsFilmTelevisionTelevision & radioNicole KidmanEmma ThompsonFri, 31 Jul 2015 10:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/jul/31/life-in-squares-why-bloomsbury-group-talent-boxPhotograph: */BBC/Ecosse FilmsLifestyle pioneers … Eve Best (left) as Vanessa Bell and Catherine McCormack as Virginia Woolf in Life in Squares. Photograph: BBC/Ecosse FilmsPhotograph: */BBC/Ecosse FilmsLifestyle pioneers … Eve Best (left) as Vanessa Bell and Catherine McCormack as Virginia Woolf in Life in Squares. Photograph: BBC/Ecosse FilmsJohn Dugdale2015-07-31T10:00:01ZWhy the BBC would never broadcast Prince Philip: the Plot to Make a Kinghttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/30/why-the-bbc-would-never-broadcast-prince-philip-the-plot-to-make-a-king
<p>The BBC and ITV have, for various reasons, a tendency to be overly deferential to Buckingham Palace. But once again, Channel 4’s maverick approach to the royals has produced something genuinely insightful</p><p>The facts that the BBC still designates a middle manager to fill the shadowy position of royal liaison officer, while Buckingham Palace controls the broadcasting rights to the 1969 BBC documentary The Royal Family, symbolises the deferential tendencies of the state broadcaster’s relationship with the head of state.</p><p> The BBC’s main terrestrial news rival, ITN, has been luckier. Its former royal correspondent, Tom Bradby, became a close friend of Prince William and was actually invited to attend his wedding, rather than grudgingly being placed in the press pen. With Bradby recently appointed as the main anchor of News at Ten, this connection may leave the bulletin well placed for future exclusives, although it makes ITV no less likely than the BBC to examine the royals rigorously. This may explain the extremely cautious coverage on the UK’s two oldest networks of the recently released film showing the Queen, as a young girl, apparently giving an imitation of the Nazi salute. With Sky News often compromised in a different direction – as many of the riskier royal stories, including Princess Elizabeth’s seeming heil to Hitler, come from its newspaper stablemate, the Sun – genuinely independent coverage of the monarchy has generally been left to Channel 4. Its programming has ranged from the cheeky – scheduling against the Queen’s Speech a message from a different political or racial perspective – to the fearlessly historical: in the past, C4 has screened dramas and documentaries about subjects such as Princess Diana, Princess Margaret and the abdication on which it is hard to imagine BBC or ITV executives gambling their pensions and future knighthoods.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/30/why-the-bbc-would-never-broadcast-prince-philip-the-plot-to-make-a-king">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionChannel 4MediaCultureTelevision & radioTelevision industryPrince PhilipMonarchyUK newsThu, 30 Jul 2015 13:32:53 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/30/why-the-bbc-would-never-broadcast-prince-philip-the-plot-to-make-a-kingPhotograph: National Portrait Gallery LondonPrince Philip and the Queen in an National Portrait Gallery portrait.Photograph: National Portrait Gallery LondonPrince Philip and the Queen in an National Portrait Gallery portrait.Mark Lawson2015-07-30T13:32:53ZHumans recap: season one, episode seven – outstanding and unnervinghttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/26/humans-recap-season-one-episode-seven-outstanding-and-unnerving
<p>The penultimate instalment of the suburban sci-fi drama moves up another gear with Karen’s trail of destruction, but leaves plenty of loose ends</p><p>“Children, I’ve got a surprise for you.” Come on then, who guessed Karen was the mother of all conscious synths? Now revealed as the synth embodiment of Leo’s mum, her persona has been played out so cunningly as she gradually seeped towards centre stage over the last couple of weeks.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/26/humans-recap-season-one-episode-seven-outstanding-and-unnerving">Continue reading...</a>HumansTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureSun, 26 Jul 2015 21:00:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/26/humans-recap-season-one-episode-seven-outstanding-and-unnervingPhotograph: Gary Moyes/Kudos/Channel 4Laura (Katherine Parkinson)Photograph: Gary Moyes/Kudos/Channel 4Laura (Katherine Parkinson)Hannah Verdier2015-07-26T21:00:04ZPartners in Crime recap: episode 1 – Sunday night escapism with Tommy and Tuppencehttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/26/partners-in-crime-sunday-night-escapism-tommy-and-tuppence
<p>Jessica Raine and David Walliams (just about keeping a lid on his inner Frankie Howerd) star in BBC1’s Agatha Christie mystery – with furniture to die for</p><p><em>SPOILER ALERT: This blog is for those watching series one of Partners in Crime</em><em>. Don’t read on if you haven’t seen episode one.</em></p><p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/david-walliams">David Walliams</a> and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/may/05/jessica-raine-had-enough-watching-women-get-abused-tv">Jessica Raine</a> star as Tommy and Tuppence Beresford in this <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/05/agatha-christie-tv-rights-tommy-and-tuppence-david-walliams">stylish Agatha Christie mystery romp</a>, which was once before adapted in the early 80s with Francesca Annis and James Warwick in the title roles. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/26/partners-in-crime-sunday-night-escapism-tommy-and-tuppence">Continue reading...</a>Agatha ChristieTelevision & radioTelevisionDavid WalliamsBooksCultureSun, 26 Jul 2015 21:00:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/26/partners-in-crime-sunday-night-escapism-tommy-and-tuppencePhotograph: Laurence Cendrowicz/BBC/Endor ProductionsJessica Raine as Tuppence and David Walliams as Tommy in The Secret Adversary (episode 1), Partners in Crime on BBC1.Photograph: Laurence Cendrowicz/BBC/Endor ProductionsJessica Raine as Tuppence and David Walliams as Tommy in The Secret Adversary (episode 1), Partners in Crime on BBC1.Julia Raeside2015-07-26T21:00:04ZThis Is England '90 – exclusive trailer for the Shane Meadows dramahttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/30/this-is-england-90-exclusive-trailer-shane-meadows
<p>Another two years have passed for our troubled youths, and they’ve reached the age of rave and Madchester – but conflict is clearly never far away</p><p>We first met the This Is England characters when they were kids in 1983, as they stumbled through the minefields of race, sex and youth in the Midlands – and we have since caught up with them, almost 7 Up style, every few years since. </p><p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/oct/24/romefilmfestival.festivals">Shane Meadows’s film</a> begat TV spinoffs set in 1986 and 1988, charting how friends Woody, Lol, Shaun, Smell and the rest grew up and faced sometimes horrendous trauma. Now we’ve reached 1990; the era of acid house and Madchester has caught up with them, but they’re clearly not just getting off their faces in a field somewhere. Here’s the exclusive first glimpse of This Is England ’90.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/30/this-is-england-90-exclusive-trailer-shane-meadows">Continue reading...</a>This Is EnglandShane MeadowsTelevisionDramaTelevision & radioCultureFilmDance musicThis Is EnglandMusicThu, 30 Jul 2015 14:31:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/30/this-is-england-90-exclusive-trailer-shane-meadowsPhotograph: Channel 4House nation... the gang from This Is England ‘90.Photograph: Channel 4House nation... the gang from This Is England ‘90.Guardian TV2015-07-30T14:31:02ZWentworth Prison: the show Orange Is The New Black could have beenhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/22/wentworth-prison-cell-block-h
<p>There are no more shaky doors as the original female-jail drama Prisoner: Cell Block H returns with a fantastic prequel</p><p>As TV premises go, a frenetic modern-day prequel to a vintage classic could be viewed as a little unseemly. Wentworth Prison – heavily inspired by Prisoner: Cell Block H and now in its third season – is on to a winner, though, grabbing at characters and plots from the cult series and smooshing them together in the setting of a Melbourne women’s jail.</p><p>After some bold criminal flourishes at the end of the last series, including avenging the death of her daughter Debbie, Bea Smith faces life in prison. As a result she is not, as any number of cast members would say in tones similar to the defence cry of the North Pacific albatross, fucking about. “You don’t run this prison,” she growls at Joan “The Freak” Ferguson, “I do.” </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/22/wentworth-prison-cell-block-h">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionTelevision & radioCultureOrange is the New BlackDramaWed, 22 Jul 2015 08:00:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/22/wentworth-prison-cell-block-hPhotograph: /Ben KingBea Smith taking care of business in the first episode of Wentworth Prison. Photograph: Ben KingPhotograph: /Ben KingBea Smith taking care of business in the first episode of Wentworth Prison. Photograph: Ben KingFilipa Jodelka2015-07-22T08:00:05ZIt's time to play the music: 10 Muppet minutes that sold the new showhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/22/its-time-to-play-the-music-10-muppet-minutes-that-sold-the-new-show
<p>As a taste of what’s to come this autumn, we can look forward to a behind-the-scenes mockumentary, familiar furry faces and slightly more adult humour </p><p>Footage of the new Muppet show has been released by ABC. First shown at Comic-Con, the 10-minute presentation was shot by series creators Bill Prady, Bob Kushell and Randall Einhorn instead of a full pilot. Prady produced long-running sitcom <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/the-big-bang-theory">The Big Bang Theory</a>, Kushell has written for <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/the-simpsons">The Simpsons</a> and Anger Management and director Einhorn worked on <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2009/may/08/us-tv-the-office">The Office</a> and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/jun/16/its-always-sunny-philadelphia-world-cup-antidote">It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia</a>. </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/08/the-muppets-return-to-tv-documentary-abc">Still not easy being green? The Muppets return to TV for mockumentary series</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/22/its-time-to-play-the-music-10-muppet-minutes-that-sold-the-new-show">Continue reading...</a>The MuppetsComedyTelevisionCultureTelevision & radioComedyWed, 22 Jul 2015 14:21:32 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/22/its-time-to-play-the-music-10-muppet-minutes-that-sold-the-new-showPhotograph: ABC/ABCFozzie and Kermit.Photograph: ABC/ABCFozzie and Kermit.Richard Vine2015-07-22T14:21:32ZWhy the BBC’s updated iPlayer Radio app will change your lifehttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/25/iplayer-radio-app-david-hepworth
<p>Whether it’s punk rock, reggae, true crime, comedy or chat, the ‘listen again’ function enables you to download a treasure trove of audio delights</p><p>The update of the BBC iPlayer Radio app has arrived just in time to make a valuable contribution to the debate around the licence fee and also improve your summer holiday experience. For years now, radio producers have had lots of their best work go unheard thanks to the accident of scheduling. Entire lifetimes of good radio are missed because most of the audience is at work, in bed, or watching TV when it’s on.</p><p>The “listen again” function of the iPlayer has already made it possible to retrieve programmes that have slipped by. The new version of the app, which is available now (for free, of course), makes it possible to download the majority of programmes to a smartphone or tablet, a great thing for all seasons but particularly at this time of the year when you can load up enough good listening to see you through the longest holiday journey or most interminable baggage-reclaim wait. The download facility doesn’t apply to all shows – music rights will never be straightforward – and you can only listen within 30 days of broadcast, but it’s a major step forward and helps bolster the corporation’s claims to be providing value for money.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/25/iplayer-radio-app-david-hepworth">Continue reading...</a>RadioTelevision & radioCultureSat, 25 Jul 2015 08:00:02 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/25/iplayer-radio-app-david-hepworthPhotograph: The GuardianScreengrab of The Archers on the BBC iPlayer Radio app.David Hepworth2015-07-25T08:00:02ZTrue Detective: is it OK to admit that no one knows what's going on?http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/21/true-detective-is-it-ok-to-admit-that-no-one-knows-whats-going-on
<p>So, you’re finding this second series of the cult crime drama totally confusing? Relax, you’re not alone</p><p><em>Spoiler alert: this blog details events in the fifth episode of the second season of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/true-detective">True Detective</a>, which airs on Sunday nights on HBO in the US, and Mondays in the UK on Sky Atlantic at 9pm &amp; 2am.</em></p><p>We’ve been watching it for weeks now, but True Detective’s plotline is no clearer than it was in the first 10 minutes of the show, leaving viewers nodding along to deep-sounding proclamations, thinking: “Am I … am I stupid now? Is everyone else understanding this endlessly confusing plotline? Will I have to pretend to my colleagues at work that everything made sense, when Colin Farrell just got shot by a raven?”</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/21/true-detective-is-it-ok-to-admit-that-no-one-knows-whats-going-on">Continue reading...</a>True DetectiveUS televisionDramaTelevision & radioCultureColin FarrellTelevisionTue, 21 Jul 2015 11:35:36 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/21/true-detective-is-it-ok-to-admit-that-no-one-knows-whats-going-onPhotograph: HBO‘No, I don’t know what’s going on. Wait, when did you shave off your moustache?’Photograph: HBO‘No, I don’t know what’s going on. Wait, when did you shave off your moustache?’Issy Sampson2015-07-21T11:35:36ZAgent Carter declassified: the key facts about Marvel’s 1940s spy caperhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/10/agent-carter-declassified-the-key-facts-about-marvels-1940s-spy-caper
<p>A subtle, stylish hero without powers – here’s all you need to know about Hayley Atwell’s retro espionage TV series</p><p>Peggy Carter is coming home (sort of). This weekend, Agent Carter, the Hayley Atwell-starring Marvel TV spinoff about the resourceful English rose who stole Captain America’s heart, belatedly makes its UK debut after screening in the US six months ago. It’s set in 1946, a year after <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/jul/28/captain-america-film-review">Captain America: The First Avenger</a>, but even in peacetime, Peggy is under pressure. She’s adjusting to single life in New York after being reposted to the covert Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR) and still grieving the loss of Cap after he “died” heroically ditching a Hydra megabomber into the freezing North Atlantic. Can Peggy get things back on track? Here’s what you need to know about the show.<br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/10/agent-carter-declassified-the-key-facts-about-marvels-1940s-spy-caper">Continue reading...</a>Superhero (TV)MarvelTelevisionAgents of SHIELDCultureTelevision & radioFri, 10 Jul 2015 11:00:12 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/10/agent-carter-declassified-the-key-facts-about-marvels-1940s-spy-caperPhotograph: Bob D'Amico/Getty ImagesLyndsy Fonseca as Angie Martinelli and Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter.Graeme Virtue2015-07-10T11:00:12ZCasualty Sin City: the soft-boiled Frank Miller homage no one expectedhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/10/casualty-sin-city-the-soft-boiled-frank-miller-homage-no-one-expected
<p>Noir comes to Holby as the veteran hospital drama tries its hand at something a little out of the ordinary. But can such tricksy pastiches revive a flagging patient?</p><p>Casualty will be 30 next year. How much longer the Saturday-night medical soap can soldier on must be a question asked regularly in top-level BBC pow-wows: so is its current yen for special, spoof and spin-off episodes a celebratory show of strength or a cry for help?</p><p>This week’s edition is entitled <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b062mgxy">Holby Sin City</a> – written in an opening caption using a crimson font mimicking the Sin City graphic novels and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/sin-city">2005 film</a>. The episode is entirely taken up with fussy registrar Ethan (George Rainsford) and his interaction with long-term patient and femme fatale Bonnie (Renee Castle), a 1940s-style sex bomb who might have committed murder. Rain lashes the hitherto rarely glimpsed neon mean streets of downtown Holby. It’s what the show’s producers have dubbed “Casualty Noir”.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/10/casualty-sin-city-the-soft-boiled-frank-miller-homage-no-one-expected">Continue reading...</a>DramaSin CityTelevisionTelevision & radioComics and graphic novelsCultureFilmBooksFri, 10 Jul 2015 12:14:43 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/10/casualty-sin-city-the-soft-boiled-frank-miller-homage-no-one-expectedPhotograph: Simon Ridgway/BBC/Simon RidgwayA fatal femme? Bonnie (Renee Castle) in Casualty’s Holby Sin City.Photograph: Simon Ridgway/BBC/Simon RidgwayA fatal femme? Bonnie (Renee Castle) in Casualty’s Holby Sin City.Jack Seale2015-07-10T12:14:43Z7 Days in Hell – Kit Harington and Andy Samberg slug it out in Wimbledon spoofhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/10/7-days-in-hell-kit-harington-and-andy-samberg-slug-it-out-in-wimbledon-spoof
<p>Game of Thrones star Harington is locked in an epic seven-day tennis men’s singles final with Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Samberg in HBO’s tennis spoof, featuring Serena Williams and John McEnroe</p><p>“The Williams-Poole match – it wasn’t even a match, it was something else …” – Serena Williams.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/06/kit-harington-wimbledon-game-of-thrones-haircut-jon-snow">Decoding Kit Harington's Wimbledon locks: celebrity haircuts as spoiler alerts</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/10/7-days-in-hell-kit-harington-and-andy-samberg-slug-it-out-in-wimbledon-spoof">Continue reading...</a>ComedyWimbledonTennisKit HaringtonHBOSky AtlanticWimbledon 2015TelevisionGame of ThronesCultureTelevision & radioFri, 10 Jul 2015 12:14:24 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/10/7-days-in-hell-kit-harington-and-andy-samberg-slug-it-out-in-wimbledon-spoofPhotograph: HBOLove, all: Andy Samberg and Kit Harington in 7 Days of Hell.Photograph: HBOLove, all: Andy Samberg and Kit Harington in 7 Days of Hell.Richard Vine2015-07-10T12:14:24ZNew on Amazon Prime in July: Extant S2, Arrow S2, '71 and Paddingtonhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/01/new-on-amazon-prime-in-july-extant-s2-arrow-s2-71-and-paddington
<p>Halle Berry returns for a second season of her sci-fi drama, while new films include Belfast thriller ’71, Paddington starring Hugh Bonneville and big Oscar-winner The Imitation Game</p><p><strong>Extant season 2 –</strong> 2 July </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/01/new-on-amazon-prime-in-july-extant-s2-arrow-s2-71-and-paddington">Continue reading...</a>Amazon Prime Instant VideoFilmTelevisionCultureTelevision & radioWed, 01 Jul 2015 14:48:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/01/new-on-amazon-prime-in-july-extant-s2-arrow-s2-71-and-paddingtonPhotograph: CBS Photo Archive/CBS via Getty ImagesHalle Berry as Molly Woods and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as JD Richter in Extant.Photograph: CBS Photo Archive/CBS via Getty ImagesHalle Berry as Molly Woods and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as JD Richter in Extant.Guardian TV2015-07-01T14:48:08ZDermot O’Leary: 'I'll never say anything bad about X Factor'http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/01/dermot-oleary-x-factor-jeremy-paxman-newsnight
<p>He’s done with presenting TV talent shows. So what’s next – could he be the next Paxman? O’Leary talks about James Joyce, politics and his hero Terry Wogan</p><p>When Dermot O’Leary was asked to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/mar/13/dermots-24-hour-danceathon-comic-relief-oleary-red-nose-day">dance outside BBC Broadcasting House for 24 hours</a> for Comic Relief, he thought he might make a hundred grand. In the end, he raised over &pound;1m for the charity, as people across the nation kept pressing the red button, utterly intoxicated by the sight of him bouncing along, in a cheery sort of trance. “Someone asked me how I was feeling and I said, “Oh I’m really fucked” – I swore a few times, my producer had to come and have a word.” He says he had given his team a list of 500 songs that make him happy, to ensure the visiting celebrity DJs would play at least some of them. “They played three. In 24 hours. Everybody decided disco would keep me going instead – if I have to hear Boogie Wonderland again, I’m not joking …”</p><p>When we meet, in a spare studio at the Radio 2 building, I am instantly struck by the fact that Dermot O’Leary is exactly the same in real life as he is on the telly, and how great it must be to have a job where you just put your whole cheery, chatty self out there. After talking to him for an hour, and realising how much more is going on, I’m left wondering how peculiar it must be to have a job where you hold so much of yourself back.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/01/dermot-oleary-x-factor-jeremy-paxman-newsnight">Continue reading...</a>Dermot O'LearyThe X FactorJeremy PaxmanNewsnightPoliticsTerry WoganBBCWed, 01 Jul 2015 18:14:06 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/01/dermot-oleary-x-factor-jeremy-paxman-newsnightPhotograph: Richard Saker/Richard SakerWould love to go on Question Time … Dermot O’Leary. Photograph: Richard SakerPhotograph: Richard Saker/Richard SakerWould love to go on Question Time … Dermot O’Leary. Photograph: Richard SakerSophie Heawood2015-07-01T18:14:06ZWimbledon 2day: what Clare Balding will have 2 do 2 save this balls-uphttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/01/wimbledon-2day-what-clare-balding-will-have-2-do-2-save-this-balls-up
<p>The revamp of BBC2’s new tennis highlights show has not gone down well with fans. But how could they make it less W1A and more love-all?</p><p>BBC2’s new nightly Wimbledon recap show has a stupid name. A name so stupid that it should have been changed dozens of times during its commissioning process. A name so stupid that it makes you want to pinch yourself, just to check that your whole world hasn’t somehow been folded into <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/apr/24/w1a-review-satire-jeremy-clarkson">W1A’s morbid reality</a>. A name so stupid that you daren’t say it out loud, in case you end up inadvertently Candymanning yourself to death. Its name – and brace yourself for this – is <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0615x2h">Wimbledon 2day</a>.</p><p>That’s right. 2day. With a numerical two. Watch Wimbledon 2day for any length of time and you’ll soon understand that it has a numerical two, because Clare Balding keeps having to laboriously explain it to viewers every few seconds with an increasingly exasperated look on her face. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/01/wimbledon-2day-what-clare-balding-will-have-2-do-2-save-this-balls-up">Continue reading...</a>Wimbledon 2015TelevisionSportWimbledonTelevision & radioCultureWed, 01 Jul 2015 12:12:42 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jul/01/wimbledon-2day-what-clare-balding-will-have-2-do-2-save-this-balls-upPhotograph: BBC“Number two, number two, number two” … Clare Balding faces the future.Photograph: BBC“Number two, number two, number two” … Clare Balding faces the future.Stuart Heritage2015-07-01T12:12:42ZTerry Sue-Patt: what became of the boy who was Grange Hill's Benny Green?http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/27/grange-hill-benny-green-death-simon-hattenstone
<p>He was first through the school gates when landmark TV series Grange Hill began. Last month Terry Sue-Patt, the actor who played him, was found dead in his flat aged 50. Had his life taken a tragic turn? <br></p><p>The death of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/23/grange-hill-actor-terry-sue-patt-dies-age-50">Terry Sue-Patt</a> was announced on social media last month, and quickly went viral. The strange thing was that few people had thought of him for years. Decades even. Many of those who remembered him did so by a different name – Benny Green. Benny was the tiny black kid from fictional 70s comprehensive <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/grange-hill">Grange Hill</a>. Rarely seen without a football, he was <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/gallery/2008/feb/06/bbc.television">Tucker Jenkins</a>’ cute if anxious sidekick, the first boy in the first episode of the hit series to enter the school gates. Next thing we saw was him kicking his football against the school wall. Then he was shouted at by the caretaker. Typical Benny.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/27/grange-hill-benny-green-death-simon-hattenstone">Continue reading...</a>Grange HillTelevisionCultureCelebrityLife and styleDeath and dyingSat, 27 Jun 2015 08:00:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/27/grange-hill-benny-green-death-simon-hattenstonePhotograph: BBC/BBCSchool's out! The Grange Hill cast, including Terry Sue-Patt as Benny Green (second from right). Photograph: BBCPhotograph: BBC/BBCSchool's out! The Grange Hill cast, including Terry Sue-Patt as Benny Green (second from right). Photograph: BBCSimon Hattenstone2015-06-27T08:00:10ZAmy Schumer: comedy's viral queenhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/28/amy-schumer-comedys-viral-queen
<p data-dropid="0">From photobombing weddings to attacking sexism, everything she touches turns to gold – but not all her comedy is as surefooted as her celebrated sketches</p><p>It would be inaccurate to say that Amy Schumer is having a moment.</p><p> Rather, it feels like the comedian has a new series of moments each week, as the greatest hits from new episodes of Inside Amy Schumer’s bumper third season hit the web to be shared, reviewed and fawned over<strong> </strong>by an army of online fans. And then there are her untelevised moments: <a href="http://www.people.com/article/amy-schumer-photobombs-engagement-shoot-central-park-photo">photobombing a couple’s engagement pictures while on a run</a>, making <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nhBKbmpGi4">quotable, funny, feminist remarks at women’s magazine awards</a>, <a href="https://instagram.com/p/22h-tFqUNa/?taken-by=amyschumer">Instagramming a recent Monistat purchase</a> or <a href="https://instagram.com/p/3MVZqDKUKV/?taken-by=amyschumer">trip to the gynaecologist</a>. Smart and sharp, Schumer seems to satirise and encapsulate the feminist debates of the moment, from equal pay to rape culture.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/28/amy-schumer-comedys-viral-queen">Continue reading...</a>US televisionComedyCultureComedy CentralTelevisionTelevision & radioFilmAmy SchumerSun, 28 Jun 2015 11:00:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/28/amy-schumer-comedys-viral-queenPhotograph: Comedy CentralAmy Schumer: a blind spot around race?Photograph: Comedy CentralAmy Schumer: a blind spot around race?Monica Heisey2015-06-28T11:00:05ZLaverne Cox: 'Now I have the money to feminise my face I don’t want to. I’m happy'http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/14/laverne-cox-orange-new-black-transgender
<p>The ‘transgender black chick from Alabama’ talks about her tough childhood, balancing activism with acting and why she loves her Orange is the New Black character Sophia</p><p>‘Until recently, I was the transgender person that people were most aware of,” says Laverne Cox, who describes herself as “an actress first and activist second”. She’s best known for playing hairdresser Sophia Burset in the Netflix prison drama <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/orange-is-the-new-black">Orange is the New Black</a>, but a year before Caitlyn Jenner’s Vanity Fair unveiling, Cox appeared on the cover of Time magazine under the headline, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/may/29/laverne-cox-transgernder-time-magazine">The Transgender Tipping Point: America’s next civil rights frontier</a>. We meet in Paris, a few days after the Jenner cover has become a global news story.</p><p>“I knew everybody would be asking me about it,” she says, explaining the thoughtful and nuanced blog she posted in response to Jenner’s transition. “I am so moved by all the love and support Caitlyn is receiving,” she wrote. “It feels like a new day, indeed, when a trans person can present her authentic self to the world for the first time and be celebrated for it so universally.”</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/14/laverne-cox-orange-new-black-transgender">Continue reading...</a>Life and styleOrange is the New BlackTransgenderDramaGenderWorld newsSocietyTelevision & radioTelevisionRace issuesSun, 14 Jun 2015 15:00:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/14/laverne-cox-orange-new-black-transgenderPhotograph: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images‘My acting has given me the platform to speak out’ … Laverne Cox. Photograph: Andrew H Walker/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images‘My acting has given me the platform to speak out’ … Laverne Cox. Photograph: Andrew H Walker/Getty ImagesRebecca Nicholson2015-06-14T15:00:03ZNew on Netflix in June: Sense8, Orange is the New Black and Obvious Childhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/05/new-on-netflix-in-june-sense8-orange-is-the-new-black-and-obvious-child
<p>The Wachowskis make their TV debut, the inmates of Litchfield Penitentiary return, there’s a new Nina Simone documentary and films including Palo Alto, Obvious Child and The Expendables 3</p><p><em>“Eight people. Eight cities. One mind.”</em></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/05/new-on-netflix-in-june-sense8-orange-is-the-new-black-and-obvious-child">Continue reading...</a>NetflixTelevisionFilmOrange is the New BlackTelevision & radioFri, 05 Jun 2015 11:26:41 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/05/new-on-netflix-in-june-sense8-orange-is-the-new-black-and-obvious-childPhotograph: Murray Close/APNaveen Andrews and Daryl Hannah in Sense8 by the Wachowskis.Richard Vine2015-06-05T11:26:41ZHas Game of Thrones season five been too brutal to enjoy?http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/10/has-game-of-thrones-season-five-been-too-brutal-to-enjoy
<p>From scenes of people being burned alive to marital rape, this latest season has been filled with shocking twists – has it become more horror than fantasy?</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/08/game-of-thrones-recap-season-five-episode-nine-the-dance-of-dragons">Game of Thrones recap: season five, episode nine – The Dance of Dragons</a></li><li><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/09/trailer-watch-game-of-thrones-season-five-episode-10-mothers-mercy-final">Trailer watch: Game of Thrones season five, episode 10 – Mother’s Mercy</a></li></ul><p>This has not been an easy season, and not just for the obvious reasons. As the fifth series of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/game-of-thrones">Game of Thrones</a> reaches its conclusion with an episode that will apparently “break the internet” (according to spoiler-filled <a draggable="true" href="http://forum.dvdtalk.com/tv-talk/627061-daniel-portman-game-thrones-episode-10-will-break-internet-book-spoilers.html">links like this</a>), viewers are increasingly split as to whether this show is a dark and serious examination of the true cost of war, or a gruesome entertainment with an over-reliance on shocking twists and grim deaths.<br tabindex="-1" /></p><p>For what it’s worth I incline towards the former camp. Game of Thrones is often difficult to watch – this season alone has given us <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/20/game-of-thrones-rape-sansa-stark">Sansa’s harrowing wedding night rape</a> by her new husband Ramsay and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/08/game-of-thrones-recap-season-five-episode-nine-the-dance-of-dragons">the immolation of sweet, lonely Shireen Baratheon</a>, a child whose only crime was to love her father to the bitter end – but those scenes do not occur in a vacuum. The viewer might find them unpleasant and harrowing to watch (and as mentioned on this week’s blog, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/08/game-of-thrones-recap-season-five-episode-nine-the-dance-of-dragons#comment-53509887">I particularly struggled with Shireen’s death</a>) but they are storylines that have been foreshadowed throughout. If there was a grim inevitability to Sansa’s night of reckoning with Ramsay, so too was there a dawning realisation that no one would save Shireen Baratheon in the penultimate episode of season five – just as no one saved Ned Stark in <a draggable="true" href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/jun/13/game-of-thrones-season-one-episode-nine">the penultimate episode of season one</a>.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/10/has-game-of-thrones-season-five-been-too-brutal-to-enjoy">Continue reading...</a>Game of ThronesTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureWed, 10 Jun 2015 15:23:53 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/10/has-game-of-thrones-season-five-been-too-brutal-to-enjoyPhotograph: HBOMissandei and Daenerys wonder how much worse things are going to get.Photograph: HBOMissandei and Daenerys wonder how much worse things are going to get.Sarah Hughes2015-06-10T15:23:53ZThis is a radio clash: can Radio 1 survive the Apple attack?http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/09/radio-1-apple-attack-nick-grimshaw-zane-lowe-spotify
<p>Breakfast show host Nick Grimshaw has lost almost a million listeners, Zane Lowe has jumped ship and young people are tuning in for less time. With Apple Music and Spotify changing the game, what does it mean for radio’s existing players?</p><p>When I met <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/dec/14/zane-lowe-future-of-radio">DJ Zane Lowe at Radio 1 at the end of 2013</a>, he had no illusions about the challenges that lay ahead if the station were to stay engaged with young people. “Whoever’s got the ideas, listen to what they’ve got to say,” Lowe said. “Everything’s changing. As long as radio moves with the things that occupy its audience’s time, there’s no reason you can’t take radio along for the ride. My only philosophy is this: hang with the smart people.”</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jun/08/apple-music-streaming-service-wwdc-spotify">Apple unveils streaming service Apple Music and 24-hour radio stations</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/09/radio-1-apple-attack-nick-grimshaw-zane-lowe-spotify">Continue reading...</a>RadioMusicRadio 1Radio industrySpotifyDigital music and audioiTunesAppleTue, 09 Jun 2015 07:00:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/09/radio-1-apple-attack-nick-grimshaw-zane-lowe-spotifyPhotograph: Alamy/Graeme RobertsonRadio 1’s audience could be at risk of being poached by Apple’s new streaming service, Apple Music.Photograph: Alamy/Graeme RobertsonRadio 1’s audience could be at risk of being poached by Apple’s new streaming service, Apple Music.Peter Robinson2015-06-09T07:00:08Z'Iain was in love when he wrote it': Iain Banks thriller Stonemouth comes to TVhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/08/iain-banks-stonemouth-tv-drama-in-love
<p>Screenwriter David Kane explains how he adapted Stonemouth for the BBC, the first Iain Banks novel to be filmed since his death</p><p>In Iain Banks’s 2012 novel <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/mar/28/stonemouth-iain-banks-review">Stonemouth</a>, a funeral brings Stewart Gilmour reluctantly back to the coastal Scottish town where he grew up. It is an awkward homecoming: Stewart was run out of Stonemouth by a volatile local gangster after an indiscretion at a wedding, and returns to a lot of unfinished business. Now a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02qxkvz">two-part BBC drama</a> starring Christian Cooke, Charlotte Spencer and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/peter-mullan">Peter Mullan</a>, Stonemouth is the first Banks TV adaptation <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jun/09/iain-banks-dies-59-cancer">since the author’s death in June 2013</a>. Veteran writer David Kane explains how he transferred the book to the screen, meeting Banks in the process. </p><p><strong>How did you come to work on Stonemouth?</strong></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/08/iain-banks-stonemouth-tv-drama-in-love">Continue reading...</a>Iain BanksDramaTelevision & radioTelevisionBooksCultureMon, 08 Jun 2015 15:32:51 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/08/iain-banks-stonemouth-tv-drama-in-lovePhotograph: Mark Mainz/BBC/Slate FilmsStonemouth starring Peter Mullan, Charlotte Spencer and Christian Cooke.Photograph: Mark Mainz/BBC/Slate FilmsStonemouth starring Peter Mullan, Charlotte Spencer and Christian Cooke.Graeme Virtue2015-06-08T15:32:51ZBertie Carvel: man of many faceshttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/31/bertie-carvel-actor-jonathan-strange
<p>He’s been a terrifying Miss Trunchbull, a convincing Nick Clegg, and now, in the BBC’s Sunday-night drama, he’s a magical Jonathan Strange. Emma John meets actor Bertie Carvel</p><p>Not many actors would tell you that the best part of their teenage years were spent in a fantasy role-play club. A youth lost to drugs or alcohol is easy to admit to, or a stint in jail for gang-related offences. But it takes confidence to reveal the fact that you used to spend your weekends dressed as a goblin playing Dungeons and Dragons-style games with your friends.</p><p>Bertie Carvel has that confidence. If you’ve watched TV at all recently you’ll have begun to nod in recognition each time he appears: as the cynical police PR in <em>Babylon</em>, or an earnest Nick Clegg in Channel 4’s political drama <em>Coalition</em>. Right now he’s the primetime face of Sunday-night drama in the BBC’s magical period piece, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/may/17/jonathan-strange-mr-norrell-episode-one-recap-the-friends-of-english-magic"><em>Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell</em></a>, an adaptation of Susanna Clarke’s bestselling novel that follows a pair of magicians through an alternate history of the Napoleonic Wars, one inhabited by long- forgotten legends of faerie. It turns out that the role of Strange, its flawed hero, couldn’t have gone to a more deserving chap.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/31/bertie-carvel-actor-jonathan-strange">Continue reading...</a>Jonathan Strange & Mr NorrellDramaTheatreSun, 31 May 2015 08:15:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/31/bertie-carvel-actor-jonathan-strangePhotograph: Shamil Tanna for the Observer‘I should just be a fat Jonathan Strange’: Bertie Carvel.Photograph: Shamil Tanna for the Observer‘I should just be a fat Jonathan Strange’: Bertie Carvel.Photograph: Shamil Tanna/33'I should just be a fat Jonathan Strange': Bertie Carvel. Photograph: Shamil Tanna/33Photograph: Shamil Tanna/33'I should just be a fat Jonathan Strange': Bertie Carvel. Photograph: Shamil Tanna/33Emma John2015-05-31T08:15:08ZNo Offence: why female coppers are the making of Paul Abbott's dramahttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/01/no-offence-strong-female-characters-paul-abbott-drama
<p>DC Kowalska is a maverick and DI Deering is a glorious monster of a boss. It just so happens, both are women</p><p>I like to knit to detective dramas. When people ask why I like them so much, I don’t usually give that as my answer, but it’s true. I like the structure of a detective show, the way you can predict the shape of them: the murder, the discovery of the body, the hunt for clues, the interrogation, the red herring, the second death and so on. But only very rarely do I find a detective drama so engrossing that I put my knitting down for fear of adding an extra armhole. And that is what happened with <a draggable="true" href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/06/no-offence-review-paul-abbotts-rude-but-not-crude-un-pc-cop-show">No Offence</a>.</p><p>In the first few moments of the opening episode, we see a couple arguing in the back of a taxi, our sense of unease growing as she boots him out into the street. Is the cab driver going to attack her? Is this the last we will see of her, or her boyfriend? Nope, neither. We’re instantly wrong-footed as she flips her police ID at the driver, and tells him to keep an eye on her stuff while she chases after a wanted man she has just clocked outside. She ditches her high heels and pelts down the street after the suspect. He races up an alley and she follows without hesitation. As he exits the alley, he looks back to see how close behind she is. He trips, falls, lands in the road. His head is instantly crushed by a double decker bus. Cue opening credits.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/01/no-offence-strong-female-characters-paul-abbott-drama">Continue reading...</a>Crime dramaDramaChannel 4Paul AbbottMediaTelevisionCultureTelevision & radioTelevision industryMon, 01 Jun 2015 17:00:32 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/01/no-offence-strong-female-characters-paul-abbott-dramaPhotograph: Ryan Mcnamara/PRNo Offence.Photograph: Ryan Mcnamara/PRNo Offence.Natalie Haynes2015-06-01T17:00:32ZThe Affair is compelling television - but will we ever get the truth?http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/28/the-affair-is-compelling-television-but-will-we-ever-get-the-truth
<p>Dominic West and Ruth Wilson’s The Affair demands us to be the jury, weighing the lies of a pair of lovers as they tell the different sides to their story. But who are we supposed to trust – and how will we reach a final judgement?</p><p>At away days and staff meetings in recent years, BBC drama commissioners have been prone to ask: “What stories do we want to tell?”, directing attention towards compelling narratives. An equally interesting question, though, might be: “How do we want to tell this story?”</p><p>For example, in a brainstorm structured around the search for stories that demand to be told, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/14/the-affair-dominic-west-ruth-wilson-long-island">The Affair</a> (Wednesdays, 9pm, Sky Atlantic) would struggle: it has an off-the-peg premise – the sort of thing that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/johnupdike">John Updike</a> and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/john-cheever">John Cheever</a> were familiarising in prose fiction more than 50 years ago – of marital infidelity among the moneyed east coast classes. But it is the way the story is told that has won <a href="https://twitter.com/sarahtreem">Sarah Treem</a> and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2009/apr/19/us-television-in-treatment">Hagai Levi</a>’s 10-part series for Showtime two <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jan/11/golden-globes-2015-who-won-what">Golden Globes</a>, several foreign exports and a recommission for a second series.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/28/the-affair-is-compelling-television-but-will-we-ever-get-the-truth">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionTelevision & radioCultureDominic WestJohn UpdikeJohn CheeverMark LawsonSky AtlanticDramaThu, 28 May 2015 16:36:49 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/28/the-affair-is-compelling-television-but-will-we-ever-get-the-truthPhotograph: Steven Lippman/Steven Lippman/SHOWTIMERuth Wilson as Alison Bailey and Dominic West as Noah Solloway.Photograph: Steven Lippman/Steven Lippman/SHOWTIMERuth Wilson as Alison Bailey and Dominic West as Noah Solloway.Mark Lawson2015-05-28T16:36:49ZWhen Pop Ruled My Life: a loving look at extreme fandomhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/29/when-pop-ruled-my-life-preview
<p>‘No one is safe, there are identical fan colonies at whichever end of the ideological pole you find yourself: be it the in crowd or those who embrace their outsider status’</p><p>“I’d forced my family to go on holiday near Roger Taylor’s house in Cornwall,” explains Kate Mossman with a breezy nonchalance in <strong>When Pop Ruled My Life: The Fans’ Story</strong> <em>(Friday, 9pm, BBC4)</em>. After seeing Queen on Top Of The Pops in 1991, Kate’s life became filled by the spoils of pop obsession: diaries flooded with prose; a life-size papier-mache Freddie Mercury mask the exact purpose of which still baffles her (and me); a lovingly Pritt-sticked collage that ate up an entire weekend in its making, etc.</p><p>In this documentary, we see how powerful the tide of furiously zealous pop neeks really is. We watch footage of young girls enraptured by some incomprehensible quality of Harry Styles (maybe, but not conclusively, his resemblance to a lovely gerbil); we have interviews with fans long grown up and the pop stars those fans were in love with; and finally Kate’s own candid confessions of consuming passion.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/29/when-pop-ruled-my-life-preview">Continue reading...</a>TelevisionTelevision & radioCultureMusicPop and rockFri, 29 May 2015 07:59:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/29/when-pop-ruled-my-life-previewPhotograph: /REXJohn Deacon, Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen in 1970. Photograph: REXPhotograph: /REXJohn Deacon, Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen in 1970. Photograph: REXFilipa Jodelka2015-05-29T07:59:01ZSpringwatch has high drama, it doesn't need soap opera twistshttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/may/29/springwatch-has-high-drama-it-doesnt-need-soap-opera-twists
<p>Producers of the programme should stop trying to make this much-loved wildlife show into Game of Thrones – the natural world is thrilling enough</p><p>British spring now starts up to three weeks earlier than it used to, according to research conducted for the 2015 run of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007qgm3">BBC2’s Springwatch</a>.<br /></p><p>This is unfortunate for the show, which already rather distorts the natural calendar. Springwatch traditionally begins around eight weeks after the start of British Summertime and will conclude in mid-June, which most people call summer.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/may/29/springwatch-has-high-drama-it-doesnt-need-soap-opera-twists">Continue reading...</a>SpringwatchTelevision & radioBBCTelevisionWildlifeBirdsSuffolkBill OddieFactual TVDocumentaryFri, 29 May 2015 17:39:26 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/may/29/springwatch-has-high-drama-it-doesnt-need-soap-opera-twistsPhotograph: BBC/Jo Charlesworth‘Beneath the often irksome words, the pictures are thrilling, and the technology improves each season.’Photograph: BBC/Jo Charlesworth‘Beneath the often irksome words, the pictures are thrilling, and the technology improves each season.’Mark Lawson2015-05-29T17:39:26ZLooking box set review – a modern drama that’s more than a gay Girlshttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/28/looking-gay-modern-drama-box-set-review
<p>Patrick, Augustin and Dom belong to a generation with new freedoms – and it’s shown to be both thrilling and terrifying in this smart, richly impressive series</p><p>When it first appeared last year, this HBO drama was neatly dubbed the “gay <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMK8PbjPwhA" title="">Girls</a>”. But that label doesn’t nearly capture the unique nature of this richly impressive drama. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHsgXsfIaZM" title="">Looking</a> may have been axed just a few months ago, but it achieved a lot in its two series, most notably establishing gay characters in situations that felt real, relatable and transcendent of sex and sexuality. Focusing on three men living in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/travel/sanfrancisco" title="">San Francisco</a>, its main focus is Patrick, played with an agreeable mixture of anxiety and conceit by Jonathan Groff. He’s joined by Agustin, his best friend, and Dom, who works as a sommelier <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1c-xsuiK0Q" title="">and sports one of TV’s finest moustaches</a>.</p><p>Keen to establish itself as a throughly modern drama, Looking has Patrick fretting about online dating. “I can’t tell if this guy is hot or not,” he says. “Instagram filters have ruined everything!” He also suffers heartbreak when it turns out that the man he’s just moved in with is still using the hook-up app <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/grindr" title="">Grindr</a>. The show uses sex smartly, though – not as titillation, but as a way to reveal character. What lengths do they go to get it? How do they act with each other afterwards? And how do they manage to get themselves in such a mess? Patrick, a computer game developer, is caught in a love triangle with his boss (played by British actor Russell Tovey) and a hairdresser called Richie.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/28/looking-gay-modern-drama-box-set-review">Continue reading...</a>LookingDramaTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureThu, 28 May 2015 15:00:06 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/28/looking-gay-modern-drama-box-set-reviewPhotograph: HBOGay normcore … Agustin, Dom and Patrick in Looking. Photograph: HBOPhotograph: HBOGay normcore … Agustin, Dom and Patrick in Looking. Photograph: HBODavid Renshaw2015-05-28T15:00:06ZWhy Coronation Street's Tracy Barlow is 2015’s best soap villainhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/26/why-tracy-barlow-is-2015s-best-soap-villain
<p>Corrie’s super schemer may have had a quiet year by her standards, but she’s back in the deadly game with a week of destruction</p><p>Tracy Barlow’s been robbed. She didn’t even get nominated for <a href="http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2/eastenders/news/a647822/eastenders-is-crowned-best-soap-at-2015-british-soap-awards.html#~pdNstuCsJA7htz">villain of the year at the British Soap Awards</a>, an accolade that went to Hollyoaks’s Patrick Blake. Sure, Chester’s chisel-jawed headmaster spent the past 12 months in a bullying, violent spiral of evil, but he’s a mere beginner. When it comes to being really, really bad, Tracy has devoted her life to the cause.</p><p>The red-lipped siren of the cobbles has murdered, married and manipulated her way through Coronation Street for nearly 40 years. Her latest exploits involve an unsuccessful plot to gain control of The Rovers Return by shagging landlady Liz McDonald’s lover Tony into submission. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/26/why-tracy-barlow-is-2015s-best-soap-villain">Continue reading...</a>Coronation StreetTelevisionCultureSoap operaHollyoaksTelevision & radioTue, 26 May 2015 16:28:18 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/may/26/why-tracy-barlow-is-2015s-best-soap-villainPhotograph: ITVTracy Barlow: murdered, married and manipulated her way through Coronation Street for nearly 40 yearsPhotograph: ITVTracy Barlow: murdered, married and manipulated her way through Coronation Street for nearly 40 yearsHannah Verdier2015-05-26T16:28:18ZBBC axes Never Mind the Buzzcocks after 20 yearshttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/may/26/bbc-axes-never-mind-the-buzzcocks-phill-jupitus
<p>Music panel show, which has featured team captains including Phill Jupitus, Noel Fielding, Sean Hughes and Bill Bailey, has run to 28 series<br></p><p>The BBC has pulled the plug on Never Mind the Buzzcocks after 20 years and 28 series of the music panel show.<br /></p><p>The show, which has been presented by Mark Lamarr, Simon Amstell and, in its latest incarnation Rhod Gilbert, has featured team captains including Phill Jupitus, Sean Hughes, Bill Bailey and Noel Fielding.<br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/may/26/bbc-axes-never-mind-the-buzzcocks-phill-jupitus">Continue reading...</a>BBCTelevision industryMediaMusic TVTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureMusicUK newsTue, 26 May 2015 12:31:45 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/may/26/bbc-axes-never-mind-the-buzzcocks-phill-jupitusPhotograph: Joel Anderson/BBC/Talkback/Joel AndersonNever Mind the Buzzcocks currently features Phill Jupitus, Rhod Gilbert and Noel Fielding.Photograph: Joel Anderson/BBC/Talkback/Joel AndersonNever Mind the Buzzcocks currently features Phill Jupitus, Rhod Gilbert and Noel Fielding.John Plunkett2015-05-26T12:31:45ZGeorge RR Martin: Hollywood would have ruined Game of Throneshttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/10/george-rr-martin-hollywood-would-have-ruined-game-of-thrones
<p>The fantasy author says film could not have coped with his Song of Ice and Fire doorstoppers: ‘The whole movie would be about this exiled princess’</p><p>Some say cable TV long ago won its battle against film for longform storytelling supremacy – and that Game of Thrones, HBO’s dramatisation of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/george-rr-martin">George RR Martin</a>’s A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels, was one of the fatal hammer blows. Yet, as the popularity and notoriety of Thrones on TV keeps on increasing, the question persists: why wasn’t it a series of movies?<br /></p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/09/trailer-watch-game-of-thrones-season-five-episode-10-mothers-mercy-final">Trailer watch: Game of Thrones season five, episode 10 – Mother's Mercy</a> </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/10/george-rr-martin-hollywood-would-have-ruined-game-of-thrones">Continue reading...</a>Game of ThronesGeorge RR MartinTelevisionBooksTelevision & radioCultureWed, 10 Jun 2015 13:20:24 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/10/george-rr-martin-hollywood-would-have-ruined-game-of-thronesPhotograph: Murdo Macleod/Murdo MacleodGeorge RR Martin: “It would take three movies for A Storm of Swords alone!”Photograph: Murdo Macleod/Murdo MacleodGeorge RR Martin: “It would take three movies for A Storm of Swords alone!”Jack Seale2015-06-10T13:20:24ZCilla Black: 'I never thought I'd be on TV'http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/may/11/cilla-black-bafta-tv-awards-2014-interview
The veteran presenter looks back on 50 years in front of the cameras, and talks about her many highs and lows, being a 'mother hen' and how she turned her back on Blind Date<p>For a moment it seems as if Cilla Black is about to cause a major storm. It's so unlikely. Throughout her career Cilla – and you always are on first-name terms with Cilla – has proved herself a genius at putting everyone at their ease. She was the queen of Saturday night TV, who had a pitch- perfect understanding of her audience. She has hosted more than 500 TV shows, made 400 guest appearance and become one of the most watched women on British TV. She's about to receive the special award from Bafta in recognition of all those talents. She doesn't do controversial.</p><p>And yet, all of a sudden she is sailing very close to the wind. &quot;I don't want to see older people on TV,&quot; she says bluntly, when asked whether she would ever return to the small screen that she has dominated during a career lasting more than half a century. &quot;I want to see young, pretty people on TV.&quot;</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/may/11/cilla-black-bafta-tv-awards-2014-interview">Continue reading...</a>Baftas 2014BaftasTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureAwards and prizesCilla BlackSun, 11 May 2014 07:30:07 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/may/11/cilla-black-bafta-tv-awards-2014-interviewRex FeaturesCilla Black in 1970: 'I haven’t ever watched myself back. That’s why I love live TV, ’cos it’s quickly gone and done.' Photograph: Rex FeaturesRex FeaturesCilla Black in 1970: 'I haven’t ever watched myself back. That’s why I love live TV, ’cos it’s quickly gone and done.' Photograph: Rex FeaturesGraeme RobertsonCilla Black: 'I haven't ever watched myself back. That's why I love live TV, 'cos it's quickly gone and done.' Photograph: Graeme RobertsonJay Rayner2014-05-11T07:30:07ZTrue Detective: season two, episode one recap – The Western Book of the Deadhttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/22/true-detective-season-two-episode-one-recap-the-western-book-of-the-dead
<p>Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, Vince Vaughan and Taylor Kitsch make their debuts as the anthology crime series moves to California</p><p><em>Spoiler alert: this blog details events in the first episode of the second season of True Detective which airs on Sunday nights on HBO in America, and Mondays in the UK on Sky Atlantic at 2am and 9pm.</em></p><p><em>For the first season of True Detective <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/true-detective">click here</a>.</em></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/22/true-detective-season-two-episode-one-recap-the-western-book-of-the-dead">Continue reading...</a>True DetectiveDramaTelevisionTelevision & radioCultureRachel McAdamsColin FarrellMon, 22 Jun 2015 02:10:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/22/true-detective-season-two-episode-one-recap-the-western-book-of-the-deadPhotograph: LACEY_TERRELL/2015 Home Box Office, Inc. All‘Hello? I’m looking for a flat circle …’ Rachel McAdams as Ani Bezzerides in True Detective.Photograph: LACEY_TERRELL/2015 Home Box Office, Inc. All‘Hello? I’m looking for a flat circle …’ Rachel McAdams as Ani Bezzerides in True Detective.Photograph: LACEY_TERRELL/HBOPhotograph: LACEY_TERRELL/HBOGwilym Mumford2015-06-22T02:10:00Z